


feelings are fatal

by lowqualtom



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: College AU, F/M, Fling - Freeform, Fuck MJ I Guess, Hopeless Romantic, Shameless Smut, commitment issues, lots of flirting, maybe some kinky shit as of chapter 10
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-01-15 22:24:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 43,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18508291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lowqualtom/pseuds/lowqualtom
Summary: Peter and Felicia have a small (not so small) fling, but when Spider-Man is assigned to find out the identity of the infamous Black Cat, things go a little haywire.





	1. Chapter 1

Peter wasn’t one for parties.

He knew it was all a part of the ‘college experience,’ or whatever but he was rather preoccupied nowadays. Parties and Peter just didn’t mix. Peter honestly preferred studying to pretending to be drunk so people wouldn’t question how  _ that _ many beers had no effect on him.

The only good thing about parties was the people watching. Man, some girls were desperate. Boys were worse too. Peter wasn’t going to lie, it was rather entertaining to see the same guy be rejected six times in the span of five minutes while one girl could make eye contact with any old guy from across the room and be whisked away immediately.

Not to mention, staying sober, which he sometimes found to be more of a curse than a blessing, meant he could keep an eye out on everyone. He couldn’t count how many times he’d supported a drunk girl into the bathroom and held her hair back as she threw up. Peter always made sure the door was open, just because he didn’t want anyone to think he was taking advantage of them.

Nor could he count the number of times he’d driven back a giggling Ned or a horny Harry with whatever girl he’d managed to secure for the night.

It wasn’t all that bad, Ned and Harry made him laugh most of the time. At least, the free stand up show would be appreciated until Peter really wanted to sleep but Ned would be cracking jokes about boobs from across the hall. Peter wasn’t quite sure how Harry always managed to find girls that sounded like they watched too much porn, but he did, and ‘ _ Oh! Fuck me harder, Harry! _ ’ wasn’t exactly Peter’s favourite lullaby.

But hey, it was the college experience, right?

At least that’s what he told himself as he leaned against the stairwell of a house party with half a beer. Whose house it was would remain a mystery and Peter couldn’t care less about the owner, Harry had found out about it through Snapchat just an hour before.

That was how most weekends went. Well, Peter only went to one or two a month, to reiterate, he was busy. Harry would ask some poor drunk girl who’d posted a party on her story where she was and if it wasn’t a frat house, they’d be there within the hour.

Harry was in the corner with two girls stuck to his side and Ned had worked his way into a beer pong team. Peter didn’t mind and as always, he was on the lookout for any troubled soul in need of help. Blame it on his hero complex, but he was always on high alert.

If he couldn’t be a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man for a night, he could at least be a friendly house-party Peter Parker. When he’d try to explain that to Ned, he didn’t get it. It made sense to Peter though, and that was all that really mattered.

The music was far too loud for his ears and he had to stop himself from pulling a face every time the bass made the floor shake. That was the other thing about parties, there was too much going on and thanks to his hypersensitive senses, meant he had to go outside for a break every twenty minutes or so.

With a cringe, he took a sip of the beer he didn’t even like and pushed himself off the railing. He headed towards the front door, his head spinning faster than the stupid lasers decorating the house. Peter squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, only to stop himself just as he was about to walk into someone.

His arms shot out and grabbed their shoulders before he could tell himself to do anything. The stumbling girl managed to balance herself with the help of Peter before looking up at him. “I was just about to go talk to you actually,”

Peter furrowed his brows, glancing around him and noticing no one else nearby. The girl’s eyes were directly on him and he couldn’t help but feel he knew her. Even so, he wasn’t quite sure why she’d want to talk to him. “Me?”

“Yeah,” She smiled. “You looked quite sad over there all on your lonesome.”

“Oh,” Peter blushed slightly and quickly removed his arms when he realized he’d been holding her far longer than he needed to. “Well, I-I wasn’t.”

“Your face said different,” A sly smirk crept over her features. “I know you’ve probably been dragged here against your will but it’s time you realize that you’re here with us and we might be fun to be with.”

“I never doubted that.”

“Yeah, you did.”

“Yeah, ok, maybe I did,” Peter admitted, noticing that her face had gotten a lot closer to his in an attempt to hear what he was saying. He supposed that he should be pretending he couldn’t hear her perfectly, so he too, moved in closer. “I’ve just been to way too many of these parties and I can’t say any have been all that great.”

 

“I feel like I’ve seen you around actually.” Her eyes narrowed as she scanned his face, her head tilting to the side. Peter couldn’t help it, but his eyes immediately went to the now exposed skin of her neck before tracing the rest of her figure.

 

“Yeah. Maybe,” Peter hummed and glanced around the house, remembering what he was doing in the first place when everything started to feel all too much again. “Sorry, I was just, on the way out because my uh- my eyes—hurt?”  

 

“Well, I didn’t think I was that hard to look at but okay,” The platinum blonde faked offence and rolled her eyes slightly. 

 

“No, no, that’s not what I meant- you’re nice to look at, yeah, you’re not- you’re pretty.” Peter cringed and scrunched his face up as he scratched the back of his neck. He pursed his lips and glanced up at the girl who was smiling up at him. 

 

“I’m just messing with you,” She laughed, Peter forced out a laugh and took a long sip of his beer in return. “You’re nice to look at too.”

 

He wanted to blush, he really wanted to, but Harry had ingrained in Peter’s brain that blushing in front of girls wasn’t  _ cool _ . So, he put on a smile and tried to find any excuse to touch her but also not touch her too much, because that would mean you’d come across as too interested. You don’t want to come across as too interested, at least that’s what Harry said. 

 

“Peter,” He said, sticking his hand out. “Peter Parker.” 

 

“Felicia Hardy,” She smiled and shook his hand. “You must go to NYU.” 

 

“I do,” Peter replied, not letting go of her just yet.

 

“I thought I’d seen your face around,” Felicia hummed, her eyes glancing to their loosely connected hands. “It’s not one I’m likely to forget. What’s a guy like you doing standing in the corner alone anyway? How am I the first person to approach you all night?” 

 

“People aren’t exactly likely to approach the random guy in the shadows, are they?” 

 

“I did.” 

 

“You’re one of a kind.” 

 

Felicia smiled, her hand slowly making it’s way up his arm. Peter stepped in closer to her and took another step outside his comfort zone. There was just something about her that made Peter throw his inhibition out the window. 

 

“I’ve also been trying to figure out how soft your lips are all night,” Felicia whispered, her trailing hand gingerly tracing his jaw. 

 

Peter's lips parted as he sucked in a deep breath. The flashing lights, pulsing music and the strong smell of all sorts of different substances vanished. Her fingers were suddenly the only thing he could focus on. 

 

“Why don’t you find out?” Peter shrugged, his eyes flickering from her lips to her eyes. 

 

The last thing he saw was the audacious smile on her face before her lips were planted on his own. His free hand immediately went to the curve of her waist, whiles hers tangled in his hair. He pulled her in close, their hips connecting and sending a shudder up his spine. 

 

Her other arm rested over his shoulder while she tugged at the roots of his hair, eliciting delightful sounds from Peter. It eventually wrapped around his neck, however, she forgot about the cup in her hand and all of its contents came slopping out and onto Felicia. 

 

Peter jumped away from her, his own drink sloshing around in the bottle slightly. He looked down at himself and noticed only a couple of drops on his shirt. Felicia, however, had the whole front of her top soaked and her chest glistened under the dim light. 

 

“Oh, shit!” She giggled and dropped her cup to the floor. Peter let out a sigh of relief and laughed slightly too. 

 

“We should probably get you cleaned up,” Peter smiled and skulled the rest of his drink, putting it down on the step beside him. 

 

“Mhm, good idea, let’s go.” Felicia grabbed his hand and dragged him up the stairs. 

 

Peter stumbled up one of the steps and cursed under his breath, how was it that he could flip from building to building just fine but walking up the stairs was an issue. Fortunately, Felicia didn’t notice and pulled him into a small bathroom before shutting the door behind both of them. 

 

He could finally see her properly now that they were in the light and holy shit, she was stunning. She looked up at him through the mirror, her bright blue eyes drilled into his own, her swollen lips curling up into a smile. Peter pushed the hair out of his face and smiled slightly. 

 

“This shirt is suctioned onto me,” She laughed as she tugged at it, displaying just how soaked it was before licking her lips. “But I can’t exactly take it off.” 

 

“I was kind of hoping it would come off eventually,” Peter croaked, his breath hitching.  _ Harry would be proud of that.  _

 

Felicia turned and looked at him, not giving him any time to do anything before launching onto him. Her lips collided with his, Peter’s hands squeezing her waist as they kissed fiercely. The music was faint now, but it was the perfect volume for Peter. He could feel the bass vibrate through his feet and up to his body, the energy of it flowing through his hands and into her. 

 

They backed up until she hit the countertop and Peter was convinced that it had to of hurt, but she showed no sign on slowing down as her hands slid underneath his shirt. Peter grabbed her thighs and picked her up, sitting her down on the counter so that he could slot between her legs. Felicia hissed when he pushed up her skirt. 

 

“Sorry, did I--” 

 

“No,” She laughed. “It’s just cold.” 

 

“Oh.” 

 

“Mhm,” She cupped his face. “Now stop talking.” 

 

Peter nodded and kissed her neck, peppering his lips down to her collarbones and tasting her split drink. Felicia pulled off his jacket and threw it on the ground before giving his shirt the same treatment. 

 

Her hands roamed up and down his torso, her nails grazing the muscles and causing him to tense under her touch. Peter returned the favour, his hands gliding up her thighs and stomach, slipping under her tight top. 

 

Felicia’s hands fumbled around with his belt, having to pull away from him to see what she was doing in the end. The button and the zipper came down easily, her hand diving into his pants and stroking him sensually. 

 

Peter pulled her in closer, jutting his hips into her hand as he continued the assault on her neck. Her breath shuddered as he fondled her breast. 

 

She pushed the waistband of his underwear down, exposing him and rather enjoying the sight of it. Peter grabbed the waistband of her own underwear, pushing her skirt up higher as he yanked the other material down her legs. 

 

Peter wasn’t sure if he liked the light being on. He loved seeing her, but he hated the fact she could also see him. It wasn’t exactly like he could just go and flip the light switch without a question, so he took a deep breath and looked up at her. 

 

“Are you sure?” 

 

“I’m pretty sure,” She laughed as her eyes raked up and down his body. “Yeah, I’m really sure.” 

 

Peter held back another blush once again, pulling his wallet out from his back pocket. When he found what he was looking for he ripped it open with his teeth and tossed the empty packet onto the ground alongside his wallet. 

 

After rolling it on, he grabbed Felicia's hips and pulled her to the edge of the counter. He lined up with her before sliding in slowly, both of them revelling in the sensation they’d been waiting for. 

 

Peter only waited a couple of seconds before the claws digging into his back told him all he needed to know. His hips plunged into her own ample speed, Felicia’s head rolling back and hitting the mirror. 

 

He cringed, knowing that must’ve hurt but she didn’t seem to care as her hand tugged at his hair. Her back arched as one of her hands flew to the bench to support her weight, sending the soap and cup off toothbrushes flying to the floor. 

 

Peter winced at the loud clattering sound but grunted as she leaned forward and buried her head into his neck. Her lips landed on his neck, her teeth grazing his neck. He placed a hand on the back of her neck, tangling his fingers into her thick hair. 

 

“P-Peter,” She moaned, her voice bouncing with each thrust. “Harder.”

 

He complied, driving himself into her harder and faster than he thinks he’d ever done before. Her hands came down to cup his ass as she moaned his name directly into his ear. 

 

Peter had never heard anything quite like it and the delightful sounds coming from her just for him could’ve made him explode right then and there. His breathing hitched in his throat as her legs started to shake and squeeze his waist. 

 

Felicia moaned louder and louder, her hips bucking into his and her head hitting the mirror behind her once again. Peter could feel her clench around him and he hissed at the feeling, his thrusts starting to slow and stutter. 

 

With one final thrust, Peter reached his climax as Felicia scratched down his back and moaned his name louder than ever before. He stilled in her, breathing heavily as his eyes flutter shut while leaning his head on her shoulder. 

 

It took a couple of minutes before Peter could bring himself to slide out of her and pull his pants up. Felicia jumped off the counter while pulling her skirt down, her feet barely making any noise as she hit the tiled ground. He watched as she picked her underwear off the ground and looked up at him, smiling innocently before tucking them into his front pocket. 

 

Peter clenched his jaw as he looked down at her, her fingers skimming over his torso. His heart fell into the bottom of his stomach as her fingernails sketched the outline of his v line. Peter immediately caught her wrist in his hand, causing her to look up at him again. 

 

“Easy, tiger,” She smiled, tilting her head to the side before looking down at her shirt. Her lips pursed and she hummed before picking up Peter’s overshirt. “You don’t mind if I borrow this right? My shirt is still kinda soaked.” 

 

Peter nodded and tugged on his t-shirt as she pulled off her own. He couldn’t help but watch her naked torso as she put  _ his _ shirt on. 

 

_ His shirt.  _

 

“Call me,” She smiled at him through the mirror before heading to the door. 

 

“I don’t have your number,” Peter furrowed his brows. 

 

“Yeah, you do,” Felicia replied, opening the door and walking straight back out into the dark house. 

 

Peter huffed and swiped up his wallet from the ground, where a piece of paper that definitely wasn’t there an hour ago was sticking out. He pulled it out and somehow, there was a phone number on it with Felicia written above it in loopy writing and a small heart to finish it. He laughed to himself, running a hand through his hair while staring at himself in the mirror. 

 

In all honesty, he really couldn’t believe he’d just done that. The last time he’d slept with someone was Liz, a dumb high school relationship that he happened to bump into at a bar he’d gone to. He was by himself, surprisingly, for he was convinced he’d just flunked an important paper and was attempting to drown his sorrows like they do in the movies. 

 

It would’ve worked if Peter could actually get drunk. 

 

Instead, Liz just happened to be there with her new friends, and Peter was pretty sure her excitement to see him was fake. The hand on his bicep definitely wasn’t. 

 

But that was 6 months ago. 

 

As he walked down the steps into the main party, everything felt like it was passing in a blur and he looked everywhere, but Felicia was nowhere to be seen. 

 

He wasn’t quite sure how to feel. This can’t have been just a one night stand, considering she did give him her number. (How it got there, he still wasn’t quite sure.) What if the number was fake? Then he’d look like a fool, plus he also kinda wanted his shirt back but he wasn’t about to say no to a girl he’d somehow managed to sleep with. 

 

As he leaned on the door frame, twisting his phone around and around in his hands, his brain reeled. Should he really be thinking this much about what had just happened, it was just mindless sex, right? Clearly, Peter couldn’t quite grasp the definition of mindless. 

 

He lurched out of his thoughts when a hand came slapping down on his shoulder. Peter looked up at the person, discovering it to be Harry who reeked of alcohol. He gave him a small smile, giving Harry one of those stupid ‘guy’ hugs. 

 

“Due, holy shit, you should’ve seen Ned. I came to find you but you were like gone,” Harry gasped. “Were you out, you know--” 

 

Harry then made thwipping noises and stuck his hands out, copying Peter’s alter-ego. Peter quickly slapped his hands away, looking around to see if anyone had seen his crude imitation. 

 

“No, no, I wasn’t,” Peter hissed, holding Harry’s hands down. 

 

“Then where were you?” Harry asked with furrowed brows, looking Peter up and down. With each passing second, his mouth gaped wider and wider. He noticed Peter’s unruly hair, his missing shit, the dark marks on his neck and most noticeably, his undone belt. “Oh my god, you got laid!” 

 

Peter glared at him, hitting his shoulder as Harry seemed far too excited. A growl escaped his throat as he was bombarded with all sorts of questions Peter didn’t exactly want to disclose. He rolled his eyes. “We’re leaving now, where’s Ned?” 

 

“Aw, I don’t want to leave. You could at least point out your girl to me,” Harry whined, pouting at Peter. 

 

“She’s not  _ my _ girl,” Peter retorted. “She’s no one’s girl.” 

 

“Woah,” Harry laughed. “Ok Mr feminist, or should I call you Mrs now? Or do you go by them?” 

 

“Shut the fuck up, Harry,” He snapped and grabbed his wrist. “She’s not here anyway, I think she left.” 

 

“Does she have a name?” Harry stumbled after him as Peter looked for Ned, drawing out his teasing words. 

 

“Felicia.” 

 

“Sexy,” Harry croaked, earning a ‘fuck off’ glare from Peter. “Oh so  _ now _ she’s your girl?” 

 

Peter ignored him, finally spotting Ned cheering on some girl who was laid bare on the kitchen table and another licked a stripe down her stomach. He clamped a hand down on Ned’s wrist and pulled him away from the crowd, leading the two stupidly drunk boys to Harry’s fancy BMW. 

 

Harry got in the passenger seat, after putting up a fight to drive that is, while Ned got in the back. Peter hopped in the driver's seat, fumbling with the keys and jamming them into the ignition. 

 

The radio immediately turned on, loud enough to make Peter jump out of his skin while Harry and Ned cheered before singing along loudly. With a sigh, he began to pull out of the parking lot but spotted her walking down the sidewalk. 

 

He froze as she made eye contact with him, an immediate smile breaking over her face as she waved. Peter gave her a tight lip and a small wave, Harry followed his line of sight and pointed at her. 

 

“Is that her? Holy shit she’s hotter than her name,” Harry laughed and hit Peter’s shoulder, who scowled and shoved him away. “Congratulations, I didn’t think you had it in you.” 

 

Peter sighed and pushed Harry away again when he poked his arm. When he looked back her, she had the remnants of a laugh on her face as she shook her head and turned away. She disappeared around the corner and Peter finally drove off. 

 

“You know,” Harry began when they were just about back to their apartment. “I thought having a good fuck would loosen you up, not shove that stick you have in your ass higher up.” 

 

“Peter had sex?!” Ned gasped, leaning forward and putting his head between the two front seats. 

 

“Yeah! Some hot girl named Felicity.” 

 

“Felicia,” Peter muttered. 

 

“Nice,” Ned nodded his head and slapped his friend's shoulder. “You deserved it, Peter.” 

 

“Why are you acting as if I won a prize?” Peter laughed slightly.  

 

“Is it not a prize?” Harry asked. “It feels as good as a prize if you ask me.” 

 

“It’s not a prize, it’s sex,” Peter added. 

 

“It’s a sexy prize,” Ned added playfully, faking seductiveness in Peter’s ear. 

 

“Shut up,” Peter laughed, shoving Ned’s face away as he pulled up to their apartment. 

 

He opened the car door up for Harry and Ned, who were hammering on about Peter’s recent ‘conquest’ while the made the journey up to their apartment. 

 

Peter forced them to drink some water and gave them some cookies before sending them off to their rooms. Within minutes he knew they’d crashed from the snoring coming from the open doors. 

 

Much like every other night out, the silence which we usually loved was deafening. The contrast was far too large to get used to in a matter of minutes. So, he got in the shower and reluctantly washed away any trace of the past few hours. 

 

But there, sitting on his bedside table was his wallet, holding the number’s that had been repeating in his brain since he first saw it. He sat on the edge of his bed, still in a towel, and grabbed his phone. 

 

Peter copied the number from the paper and stared at the blinking bar on his screen, not sure what he was supposed to say. Was he supposed to say anything? Was the number just a courtesy?

 

He sighed, his leg bobbing up and down with anticipation before he finally sent something. 

 

_ ‘I had fun tonight :-)’ _

 

Fun? The smiley face? Peter was kicking himself and praying that the text would fail, that he never actually sent it. He groaned, knowing that at the very least, he could’ve taken the nose out. 

 

_ ‘I’m not sure you understand how one night stands work, Parker ;)’  _

 

_ ‘I just want my shirt back’  _ Peter would just pretend he wasn’t disappointed by her response, at least she knew who it was. 

 

_ ‘Well played. I suppose you can come get it, if you must’ _

 

_ ‘I must’ _

 

_ ‘Fine, my place tomorrow at 9 pm’ _

 

_ ‘Why so late?’ _

 

_ ‘You know why’  _

 

_ ‘See you tomorrow then’ _

 

Peter put his phone down, smiling to himself before getting changed. 

 

Needless to say, he slept like a baby that night. 


	2. Chapter 2

He felt stupid for being so excited about it, this could potentially be the last time she spoke to him. Should could suddenly realise Peter wasn’t that great now that she was sober and kick him to the curb. Even so, it wasn’t like he could just leave another shirt at her house, just to go collect it again.

 

There were multiple times where he nearly tripped over while tugging clothes onto his body sloppily after he showered. He clambered around his room, throwing things into different corners while he looked for his keys and wallet, shoving them into the pockets of his sagging jeans. 

 

According to his phone, he had fifteen minutes to get to her place and Google said it was a twenty-minute walk away. He supposed he could run to make up for lost time, but no, that was too desperate, wasn’t it? 

 

Late was good, late was cool. 

 

He shoved headphones in his ears before leaving the apartment, grateful that there were no Ned and Harry to harass him. His footsteps matched the beat of the music and he tried his best to focus on them, trying to flush out every thought that had compiled over the last hour. 

 

When he arrived at her apartment, he suddenly wished he’d had an ineffective drink. Even though it would do nothing for him, the moral behind it was still there. 

 

His feet scuffed along the tiled lobby before pulling out his phone to check which floor it was on. After a quick mental debate of whether or not he should take the stairs to delay his arrival even more, he got in the elevator anyway. 

 

In all honesty, the reason for his nervousness was almost unknown to him. He’d known her for barely a day, and all they’d really done is jump each other’s bones. All they were going to do  _ now _ was jump each other’s bones. At least that’s what he figured was going to happen. 

 

He checked his phone again to make sure which number it was and of course, it was the door directly across from the elevator. So,  _ Spider-Man _ picked himself up and walked across the hallway, rapping his knuckles against the door. 

 

After a couple of moments of rocking back and forth on his heels, the door swung open. Peter tugged the headphones out of his ears and smiled down at her, rolling the cords between his fingers. 

 

Felicia leaned against the door frame, still wearing his shirt. She gave him a flirtatious smile before looking him up and down. 

 

“I just came for the shirt,” Peter broke the silence, biting down on his bottom lip. 

 

“You’ll have to take it off me yourself,” Felicia tilted her head before walking back into her apartment, Peter following loosely behind. She stopped at the fridge, pulling out a couple of beers. “Drink?” 

 

Peter nodded a little too eagerly and covered it up with a shrug after realising. He took the drink from her before looking around her apartment. It was by no means big or fancy, but neither was Peter’s. 

 

“Do you live alone?” Peter asked, noticing more shoes and coats at the door than one person would have. 

 

“I have a roommate, Gwen, but uh-” Felicia sucked in a breath. “Well we’re not really friends, we just bare with each other.” 

 

“Gwen? As in, Gwen Stacy?” Peter raised his brows.  

 

“Yeah,” She narrowed her eyes. “You know her?”  

 

“I guess you could call us-- friends? We just know all the same people.” 

 

“Right, does she ever talk about her ‘crazy’ roommate?” 

 

“She may have said,” Peter cleared his throat. “Maybe just a couple of things about you coming back really late at night and disturbing her sleep or whatever.” 

 

“Hm,” Felicia hummed, taking a sip of her drink. “She’s a square. Sorry, I shouldn’t be talking about your friend like this.”

 

“No, no, it’s fine,” Peter laughed a little. “We’re barely friends and well, you two couldn’t be any more different so I get it.” 

 

“You’re right, we are very different. I’m getting laid tonight and she’s not.” 

 

“Are you?” He hummed, trying his hardest not to look embarrassed by drinking far too much beer in one go. 

 

Without another word, Felicia put her bottle down and grabbed Peter by the collar of his shirt, slamming her lips into his. He fumbled for a bit but managed to put his bottle down safely while kissing back just as hard as she was. 

 

His hands snaked down to her waist, caressing her curves and squeezing gently. He pushed her, his, shirt up, revealing that all she had on underneath was a pair of lacy underwear. There was something about the fact that his shirt covered her enough that only he knew what was underneath that sent his head reeling. 

 

“Yeah,” Felicia breathed, kissing his neck. “I’m getting laid tonight.” 

 

Her hand trailed from his collar and down his arm, eventually reaching his hand and intertwining their fingers, pulling him into her room. She opened the door to a dimly lit room, the only light coming from a lamp on her bedside table. 

 

Standing out against her white bed sheets, was a pitch black cat who Peter swore was staring him down. That cat’s amber eyes were piercing into his own, and Peter would never admit it, but he was almost scared of the cat. 

 

As Felicia lead him to the bed, he could feel it’s eye’s following him through the room. She stroked the cat’s head, who purred and pushed it’s head into her hand before she gently moved him off the bed. 

 

A small meow escaped its mouth as it slinked out of the room, not breaking eye contact with Peter until Felicia shut the door. “That’s 8 ball, he doesn’t do much except sleep on my clean clothes.” 

 

“He seems-- nice,” Peter muttered, smiling small at her before she grabbed his collar again and tugged his shirt off. 

 

Peter obliged, lifting his arms up for her to get it off easier. Their lips connected again as she undid his belt, Peter’s own hands cupping her face. She turned them around, making Peter walk backwards until his knees hit the edge of her bed and he sat down on it. 

 

Felicia climbed on top of him, her legs straddling his waist before she pushed him down even further, causing his back to his the covers. 

 

Her hips rocked back and forth over him slightly as she peppered kisses down his neck and chest. Peter’s hands ran up her legs before going up her stomach and cupping her breasts, rolling her nipples between his fingers. 

 

She sighed, leaving a lingering kiss on his lips before sitting up and beginning to unbutton her shirt. Peter caught one of her wrists, making her stop her movements and look down at him with a raised brow. He gulped before growling, “Keep it on.” 

 

Felicia smiled down at him and moved her hands away and placed them on his chest, grazing her nails down to his pants. She started pulling them down, sitting up on her knees as Peter raised his hips to help her. 

 

He kicked his pants off and onto the ground, his fingers dipping into the band of her underwear. He lowered one hand even further, finding itself in a place that made her whine. 

 

After managing to elicit a few more moans from her, he yanked the lace off. He probably did it a little too roughly, according to how it ripped in half rather than just move to the side. Peter’s eyes widened, looking up at her as a blush crept up his neck. “Sorry?” 

 

Felicia shrugged, placing her hands on his shoulders before kissing his chest. “It speeds things up, so I’m not complaining.” 

 

She reached across to her bedside table and grabbed a foil package, ripping it open and rolling it onto Peter. His breath hitched in his throat as he watched her, his torso tensing with each passing moment. 

 

Peter ran his hand up and down her side and she lowered herself onto him, both breathing out noises of  _ finally _ . 

 

Felicia rolled her hips into his, one hand supporting herself on his chest while the other pushed her hair out of her face. He watched as her head rolled back, her swollen lips parted and eyes fluttering shut. Peter decided he’d never seen anything better than Felicia on top of her, the dim yellow light enhancing her features in all the right places. 

 

The occasional grunt sounded from his throat but for the most part, he was keeping himself together well, considering the circumstances. He ended up pushing her shirt to the top of her chest, wanting to take in as much of her as he could. 

 

She’d just let out her loudest moan so far, thanks to Peter putting his hand between her legs and stimulating her further, when something almost snapped in Peter’s head. His arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her to his chest before rolling them over so he was on top. 

 

He grabbed the headboard with one hand, using it to drive himself into her faster and harder. The rhythmic sound of the bed hitting the wall mixed with their symphony of moans was Peter’s new favourite song. 

 

Felicia hooked her legs around his hips, her head rolling back into the pillow as she tugged his hair. She pulled his head down to hers, mashing their lips together in the sloppiest kiss either had ever experienced. 

 

Peter buried his head in her neck, feeling her tighten around him in the most amazing way. His lips grazed the skin on her neck as she bucked her hips upwards, her legs shaking. He held the back of her thigh as he plunged in a couple more times, his thrusts stuttering before he let himself go. 

 

They both stalled their movements, taking in the silence to catch their breath. Peter let go of the headboard, his hand falling next to her head before he pulled out of her. He went to roll off of her but she caught his face, rubbing circles into his jaw before pulling him in for another kiss. 

 

He kissed back, lying next to her and clearing his throat when he pulled away. Felicia placed a hand on his chest, drawing lines with her nail. Peter ran a hand through his hair before looking at her and studying her skin, glimmering with sweat. 

 

“Did you have fun again tonight?” She broke the silence and earned a small laugh from Peter.

 

“Yeah,” He breathed. “I did.” 

 

Peter was just about to say something else when a familiar, and very specific ringtone interrupted him. He rolled over and grabbed his phone from a pocket of his discarded jeans, looking at the text that had come through. 

 

_ ‘Heard the NYPD is keeping an eye out for you tonight. Pretty sure it’s not a bad thing but just a heads up.’  _

 

According to the last encounter, where Peter had called the head of the Police Department a ‘mumpsimus’ and landed a web in the middle of his badge, he was pretty sure they weren’t on good terms. (Michelle has just told him what mumpsimus meant, he couldn’t resist.) 

 

So even though Tony said it wasn’t a big deal, it felt like a damn big deal. They were probably going to tell him off for destruction of property or something again. What was he supposed to do? Let people get away with stuff just so he wouldn’t break a damn window? That would defeat the whole purpose of being Spider-Man. 

 

He glanced over at Felicia, who was looking at him with an inquisitive expression. Peter sucked in a breath and pointed at his phone screen. “I gotta- I gotta go.”

She shrugged, starting to unbutton her shirt to give back to him but he caught her hand again and shook his head. “Keep it.” 

 

A smile broke out over her face as she let go of the button. Peter cleared his throat and got off the bed, getting dressed quickly. He looked over at her one last time, to see her sitting on the edge of her bed now, obviously watching him the whole time. Felicia stood up, walking him to her bedroom door before leaning on the frame. 

 

“I’ll uh- see you soon?’’ Peter squeaked, starting to walk backwards. 

 

“I hope so,” She smiled and stepped forward, pulling him back and kissing him one last time.

 

Peter melted into her but managed to pull himself away. His breath hitched and turned around, about to step forward but was stopped by her cat standing right at his feet. The black cat hissed and the fur on his back stood up straight. 

 

Peter’s eyes widened and he jumped around the animal, moving quickly to the front door. He could hear Felicia laugh as Peter opened her apartment door. With a final smile, he left her apartment, starting the journey back to his own. 

  
  


There was nothing quite like swinging from building to building hundreds of feet up to clear the mind. Peter liked to imagine that the wind would be flowing through his hair, looking like something straight out of a romantic comedy. It was a stupid reason to be upset, but he really wished he’d get that windswept look from time to time. Instead, all he got was stupid mask hair. 

 

However, it wasn’t what most people would consider to be ideal. Peter landed on the edge of a particularly tall building, squatting and catching his breath. 

 

With a sigh, he pulled off his mask and watched the cars zoom by on the streets below. He far preferred New York in the night time. Call him cheesy, but the lit up skyline was one of the prettiest things he’d ever had the pleasure of seeing. 

 

Dangling his legs off the edge of the roof, he hummed to himself and pulled his phone out, checking to see if he’d had any messages. He totally wasn’t looking for a message from anyone in particular. 

 

There was one from May, telling him to stay safe. Peter replied with a smile ‘I love you’ which was a reply that always satisfied May. 

 

Another from Ned, telling Peter about Harry losing his vape at the party they were at. Peter secretly rejoiced at that, but don’t tell Harry. 

 

Harry had sent a text, also yelling about his lost vape. 

 

None from her, and nothing else from Tony. What was he expecting? Tony had said all he needed to say and it wasn’t all that long ago he’d left Felicia’s apartment. 

 

He yanked his mask back on and leapt off the building, letting himself freefall for a couple of seconds before catching himself on a neighbouring building and swinging towards the police station. He even managed to web a couple of low-lives to the wall on the way. 

 

Peter wasn’t quite sure how he was supposed to go about entering the police station. Did he just walk in? Or should he be more tactful? Maybe he could just crawl through the vents and have a dramatic entrance. 

 

Luckily, the decision was made for him as he landed on the roof of the building, a trio of officers already waiting for him. At least he assumed that’s what they were doing, otherwise, it would look rather strange to see them struggling to set up a giant spotlight with a spider in the middle. 

 

“Is that- a Batman signal for me? Wow, you guys are way too good to me.” Peter pressed a hand against his heart and tilted his head to the side, squatting down on one of the large air vents. 

 

A sigh escaped the mouths of one of the officers he knew to be Captain Stacy. “It was the best way we could think to contact you, considering you won’t even let us give you a burner cell.” 

 

“I’ve got ears everywhere Captain Stacy, sir, I’ll always be here for you,” Peter hummed. “Now, listen, I haven’t broken anything except the lamppost on 85th Ave last week--” 

 

“I knew it was you--” The officer grumbled. “Whatever, that’s not what we need you for. Ever heard of someone called Black Cat? The names becoming more and more talked about each day.” 

 

“The cat burglar right? I’ve seen her a couple of times but she always disappears the second I try to get a better look at her.” 

 

“Yeah, her. Well, she’s getting bolder. Stealing more important things, including a piece from MoMA and as you can imagine, the public is on our ass about it,” Stacy beckoned him down from the vent, holding out a folder for him. “We’ve been trying to catch her for weeks now and none of my guys can get near her. So, we are, begrudgingly, asking for your help.” 

 

Peter flipped off the vent, earning a couple of eye roles before taking the folder and flipping through the limited pages. All they had was basic information; aliases, estimated height, weight, age, different abilities they thought her to have and a general appearance. There were other reports of incidents she was believed to be involved with, photos of her caught on CCTV. 

 

He thumbed through the pages, looking over them very briefly. Peter looked up at the cops, seeing the desperation written across their faces. New York had been quiet recently, mainly petty crimes taking place, so to say Peter was excited about this would be an understatement. After months, finally, something good. 

 

“Yeah, alright, I’ll help,” He cleared his throat, folding his arms across his chest and attempting to appear as uninterested as possible. “So all I gotta do is catch her?” 

 

“Catch her, find her identity, unmask her live on the news, have her magically appear in a cell, I don’t care,” The captain shrugged. “As long as I get her in handcuffs I couldn’t care less about how you do it.” 

 

“Even if I delivered her to you in a party bus and covered in cat food?” Peter asked, raising a brow. 

 

“Even if you delivered her to us in a--” He stopped, squeezing the bridge of his nose. “You’re driving me crazy,  _ Spider-Man _ . Just get her to us as soon as possible, capiche?”  

 

“Car peach,” Peter nodded. “Can I get a walkie talkie or something?” 

 

“If you think it’ll help, sure,” Stacy groaned. “Try not to break anything while doing this for us, okay? We know she’s hitting up a lot of art galleries at the moment and we think she’s going to be scoping out the one a couple of blocks away tonight. So this-- new black suit you’re wearing could be quite handy, now get out of here, kid.” 

 

Peter nodded and saluted the Captain before jumping off the edge of the building backwards. He swung to the art gallery, knowing exactly which one they were talking about and landed on the roof of a building across from it. 

 

He was just about to start taking a thorough look through the files when he realised that if she was indeed, scoping the place out, sitting directly in front of it might not be the best idea. So he gathered up the papers again before jumping to the other side, sitting atop a taller building to the side. 

 

Once there, he began rifling through the papers. He learnt she’d only been on the scene a couple of months, starting with breaking her father out of prison. She had no known powers but was clearly trained in acrobatics and martial arts. 

 

Peter had just begun reading through her M.O. when his chest tightened. Before he knew what he was doing, he spun around and fired a web at whatever, or whoever was behind him. His other hand hid the file behind his back. 

 

“You’re quick, Spider,” A sultry voice came from the girl dressed in a leather catsuit, who Peter had managed to web the wrist of to a brick wall behind them. He watched as she raised her free hand and cut herself free with the claws attached to her suit. “But you’re not sly.” 

 

She removed the rest of the web from her wrist as she walked towards him, looking him up and down. Stopping mere inches from him, she traced her claws along the side of his jaw. Peter turned his head and looked towards the ground, his heart about to fly out of his chest. 

 

“Cat got your tongue?” She laughed and placed a hand on his chest. 

 

“Look I’ve got one job to do and that’s to bring you in, but you’re making this easier than it should be,” Peter finally spoke, trying his best to not let his voice shake. 

 

“So you want a game? I can play games,” She hummed as she trailed a claw down his torso, leaving a scratch in his suit as a reminder of her. The girl stepped in ever closer to Peter, he could hear her steady heartbeat, which made his sound like a hummingbird's in comparison. She reached around his back, plucking the files out of his hand before moving away from him. “Doing your research?” 

 

“I didn’t exactly think you’d walk straight up to me.” 

 

“Yet you still haven’t caught me,” She pouted and threw the files back at him, a few papers floating off into the night sky. “And you won’t.” 

 

She took a grappling hook from her side and fired it at a building further down the street. With a wink, she flew off into the night sky, Peter too stuck in her lingering presence to move. 

 

He shook his head and shot a web after her, but it was too late. Black Cat had disappeared into the night without a single trace. Peter couldn’t wrap his own head about what had just happened. Usually, he’d web people up in two seconds and the job would be done, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it to her, for what reason? He didn’t know. 

 

Peter swung around the city for a bit more, keeping an eye out for her but never seeing so much as a glimpse of her. He gave up after a while, swinging back to his apartment and crawling in his bedroom window. 

 

With a sigh, he pulled off his mask and stood in front of his mirror. Maybe he was just too distracted with Felicia to deal with Black Cat tonight, he decided that was the reason he was so out of it tonight. 

 

His finger traced the indent her claw had left on the armoured part of the stealth suit, the feeling of her still all around him. There was something oddly familiar about her but he couldn’t put his finger on it. 

He shook his head, trying and failing to shake all thoughts of both Felicia and this-- oddly bewitching cat burglar. Peter walked into the kitchen of his apartment, where Ned and Harry were both standing in front of the over, presumably heating up a frozen pizza. 

 

“Did you find your thing, Harry?” He asked, filling himself up a glass of water. 

 

“Nah,” Harry huffed. “I just took someone else's though.” 

 

“Harry--” Peter sighed. 

 

“Ok listen, I know you’re Spider-Man and you’re a square with a moral compass that’s too good, but it’s not that big of a deal. It’s just a vape,” Harry interrupted him, placing his hands on Peter’s shoulders. “Plus you’d never throw your best friend in jail, would you?” 

 

“You’re beginning to abuse that card a bit too much.” 

 

“What’s that? You wouldn’t? Thanks, Peter, love you too,” Harry awed, squeezing Peter in a hug. Peter rolled his eyes playfully but hugged back, a small smile erupting over his face before feeling Harry tense up against him. “You smell like sex.” 

 

“Yeah he went to that girl's place,” Ned added, taking the pizza out of the oven. 

 

“How do you know that?” Peter squeaked, his cheeks turning crimson. 

 

“I hack into your phone sometimes,” He shrugged, putting the slices on plates before offering one to Peter. “Pizza?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow wow i'm really glad people are enjoying the story! I'm trying my best to stay on character while also making it my own at the same time, so it's not going to be just like the comics, because what would be the point of that. thanks for reading and commenting and such! 
> 
> twitter: @/rueshewitt


	3. Chapter 3

All Peter could think about for days was Felicia and the Black Cat. His head was constantly swamped with all sorts of thoughts about both of them. Felicia had messaged him two days later, asking when he was free and Peter had spent the Sunday and Monday night swinging around the city looking for Black Cat. He never found her, but nowhere had reported anything stolen either. 

 

Peter was finding it rather difficult to focus in classes now. It was especially harder when he noticed a familiar head of platinum blonde hair walk into the room. He had no idea he even had any classes with her, let alone what degree she was doing. Yet here she was, walking into his physics class. 

 

To make matters worse, he was already sitting next to Gwen, as she was the only other person Peter knew in this class. 

 

Peter shrunk down into his seat, wishing for nothing more than curl up into a ball and be swallowed by the Earth. He put his head down, scribbling in his book and trying his best to remain unnoticed. It didn’t work. 

 

He tried to ignore the presence in front of him, the presence that hadn’t left his head for days now but he couldn’t. Not when she put her hand on top of his own. 

“Hey, Parker,” She purred, causing him to snap his head up and glance between Felicia and Gwen. 

 

“Hey, hi, uh-- I didn’t know you were in this class,” Peter gave her a tight-lipped smile, trying his best to pretend he didn’t see Gwen's confused and slightly annoyed expression. 

 

“I could say the same about you,” Felicia smiled. “Do you mind if I sit here?” 

 

Peter shook his head as she pointed to the spot on the other side of him, looking at Gwen and shrugging. Felicia moved around and sat next to him, her leg pushing up against his as she organised her things. 

 

“Gwen, you’re out this afternoon right?” Felicia hummed, looking at Gwen with the fakest smile Peter had ever seen. 

 

“Yeah,” Gwen replied. “Why?” 

 

“I just wanted to make sure Peter and I don’t disturb you.” 

 

Peter choked on thin air before looking at Felicia, who smiled as her eyes flickered up and down his slouched body. Her hand toyed with the collar of his shirt, her fingers gently grazing his skin. He made himself breath, tapping his pencil on the desk lightly. 

 

“I’m already disturbed,” Gwen replied, looking between Peter and Felicia and fake gagging. Peter gave her an apologetic look before she shook her head and looked away. 

 

The lecture wasn’t fun. Physics was one of Peter’s favourite subjects, but the tension between the three of them was driving Peter silently mad. He could barely hear what the professor was saying but no one was talking. 

 

It was almost as if Gwen and Felicia had each shoved cotton wool in his ear without him knowing. He couldn’t tell if it was the tension between him and Felicia, who had placed a hand on his thigh, or if it was the tension between Gwen and Felicia that he felt more. 

 

Peter wasn’t going to complain about her hand on his thigh, though. Her thumb was rubbing circles through his jeans and he almost didn’t want to admit that he liked it. His leg was previously bobbing up and down and the second she put her hand on it, he stopped. 

 

He could feel Gwen staring at the contact every so often, almost every time her pencil stopped moving. Felicia never looked at Peter, but he could feel her proud smirk from a mile away. Peter was unsure if he should return the touch, and he was unsure of how he was supposed too if he did. 

 

So he didn’t but tried his best to make it know he didn’t hate it. 

 

At the end of the lecture, Gwen tapped his shoulder and he turned to her with raised brows. “Ned, Michelle, Liz and I are having a study session type thing in a couple of days if you want to come?” 

 

“Liz?” Peter squeaked and cleared his throat.

 

“Yeah,” Gwen shrugged. “You don’t have to talk to her, apparently she and MJ are good friends now. You don’t have to come if it makes you uncomfortable.” 

 

“No, no, it’s fine, of course, I’ll come, thanks Gwen,” Peter smiled as she stood up, placing a hand on Peter’s shoulder as she smiled back before turning and leaving, bidding him farewell. Gwen said nothing to Felicia. 

 

“Bye Gwen,” Felicia waved goodbye to her as she spoke loudly, sarcasm clear in her force before she turned to Peter, holding back an eye roll. “So, Liz Allan?” 

 

“You know her too? What’s she? An ex-roommate?” Peter joked, nudging his arm against hers in an attempt to lighten the mood. 

 

“Who doesn’t?” She replied, placing her pen on the side of Peter’s page. “Miss Perfect, is she not? Now let me guess, she’s a kind of friend?” 

 

“An ex,” Peter corrected her, glancing between her moving hand and her face that was ever so elegantly placed in the palm of her hand, squishing her cheek up. 

 

“Ex?” Her eyebrows shot up. “Isn’t she older than us?” 

 

“Yeah, we went to the same high school, dated for a bit until her dad turned out to be-- um, mean.” 

 

“Mean?” Felicia laughed. “Must’ve been some relationship, huh?”

 

Peter laughed and nodded, his hand twisting the end of Felicia’s hair around his finger and tugging on it slightly, just to see it bounce back to its usual wavy state. Felicia smiled as he repeated the action, her hand moving further to the inside of his leg. 

 

“We’ve got the room to ourselves,” She hummed, looking up at him and pressing her lips to his quickly. “Too bad I’ve got another class to go to, see you later, Peter.”

 

He breathed out a goodbye as she sashayed out of the classroom, not even bothering to look back at him before she was out of his sight. Peter sighed, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair before looking down at his book. 

 

It was too ironic, he laughed as he looked at the place where her pen had been scrawling back and forth on the page. There, in the corner, she’d drawn a small cat that somehow seemed far too annoyingly elegant to be real. 

 

Peter shut his book and stood up, feeling as if he was dragging his feet through mud as he left. He headed to his next class, knowing that he was going to be too preoccupied to learn anything no matter what he did. 

  
  


When he got to Felicia’s that afternoon, the second she opened the door for him, he was immediately met with a sloppy kiss before a single word could get in. 

 

She clenched the front of his shirt between her firsts and dragged him into the apartment. Peter shrugged his bag off as she continued her assault, ignoring the thud of the expensive laptop Tony gave him hitting the floor. 

 

His foot kicked out behind him and shut the door, Felicia pushing him against it the second she could. Her hands pushed under his shirt and left a path of goosebumps wherever they roamed. 

 

Peter held her waist, one hand sliding lower than what was deemed socially acceptable and squeezing. His fingers dug into her more as her hand bypassed his belt completely, diving into his pants. 

 

He gasped slightly, shocked by the fact that no more than three minutes ago he was still outside her door. “Did you drink ten Red Bulls or something? Holy shit.”

 

Felicia pulled away and smiled as her fingers wrapped around him. “No, but you don’t seem to be complaining.”

 

“I’m definitely not complaining,” He replied, his voice lower than he’d ever heard it before. One of his hands tangled in her hair as she kissed his neck while the other undid his belt and button, giving her more room to move her hand. 

He grabbed the hem of her shirt, tugging it upwards and almost whining at the split second they were apart to get it off. Peter threw the shirt to the ground, relishing in the fact she’d decidedly chosen to not wear anything underneath. 

 

Her hand wrapped around him again as he cupped her breasts, palming them roughly as she pumped him. Felicia’s lips connected to his neck, nipping slightly and feeling rather smug at the noises he made in response. She planted her lips further down, leaving love bites in various different places before taking his shirt off too. 

 

Felicia continued to place sloppy kisses down his torso, eventually ending up on her knees in front of him. Peter tangled his fingers in her hair, biting his lip in anticipation. His stomach swarmed with butterflies and she freed him from his jeans before wrapping her lips around his tip. 

 

Peter groaned her name quietly, drawing out the vowels and tightening his hold on her head. She hummed, swirling her tongue around him.

 

He almost mistook it for a noise from her, but unfortunately, the insistent vibrating was coming from the phone in the back pocket of his jeans. She looked up at him, pulling away with a smirk. “You should probably get that.” 

 

Peter shook his head, shuddering out a breath as she continued to stroke him. She shrugged, going back to her previous endeavour, which would have been fine if Peter’s phone didn’t ring again. 

 

He groaned, pulling it out of his pocket and immediately sobering at the caller I.D. Peter cupped her jaw, pulling her away from him before pressing his phone to his ear. “Mr Stark!” 

 

“Hey kid,” Tony’s voice was unamused. “You’re ignoring my calls now? I don’t like it, stop that.”

 

“Sorry, I was just- I was just busy,” Peter stuttered, looking down Felicia who was smiling up at him before licking a stripe up his length. Peter sucked in a breath. “What’s happening?” 

 

“There’s a little, maybe not little drug, thing going on a couple of blocks from you. Go-- web ‘em up or something,” Tony hummed, clearly not all that invested in the call. 

 

“Mr Stark, I’m-I’m just a bit busy,” His voice raised at least ten octaves. “C-can this wait?” 

 

“Does it sound like it can wait? No, where are you anyway? This is a recurring location I’ve never seen before this week.” 

 

“St-stop stalking me,” Peter squeezed out before biting into his fist, making her laugh around him and in return, causing him to bite his fist harder. 

“No can do, now get there, or I’ll-- disconnect your wifi and data or something.” 

 

Peter groaned, for more than one reason. “Fine.” 

 

“Don’t get snappy with me, go.” 

 

“I said, fine,” Peter growled, also for more than one reason. Felicia took him in deeper than she had so far, slightly gagging and causing Peter to bite his fist again before mumbling, “I’m close.” 

 

“Yeah, I know you’re close that’s why I called.” 

 

“I- uh- ok- yeah- I’ll be there, bye.” Peter sighed, taking his phone away and hanging up, his hands immediately returning to the back of her head. 

 

He finally let himself moan as he rolled his head back, his hips involuntarily bucking. Felicia hummed and stayed in her position while Peter finished, pulling away after a few moments and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand before standing up. 

 

“Felicia, I’m sorry but I have to-” Peter apologised, pulling his pants up and doing his belt. 

 

“I know,” She smiled. “I heard.” 

 

“You heard? Whatever, uh, thanks, I’ll see you--” Peter raised a brow, looking for an answer. 

 

“Whenever you want, also, you don’t have to say thanks for something I wanted to do,” Felicia hummed, her tongue flicking out and wetting her lips as she ran a hand through his hair. 

 

Peter clenched his jaw, not particularly wanting to leave as he leaned into her hand. He resisted closing his eyes as her nails grazed over his head and took a deep breath as he thumbed her lip. “Ok, I really gotta go now.” 

 

He pulled himself out of her grasp and picked up his shirt, shrugging it back on hastily. Peter swooped down again and grabbed his bag, looking the topless girl up and down one last time before heading to her doorway. 

 

Felicia stayed smiling at him as he stumbled out, up until he shut the door, allowing both of them to finally be able to breathe again. 

 

There was just something about being in the same room as her that took Peter’s breath away and he wasn’t exactly mad about it. 

 

Peter ran into an alleyway, stripping himself quickly and shoving the clothes into the bag and webbing it to the wall as high as he possibly could. Within seconds, he’d pulled on the same black stealth suit he’d worn for the past few days. 

 

His finger traced over the scratch in the torso again, his stomach tensing up at the memory of how it found a place there. With a sigh, he yanked his mask on, a familiar voice greeting him. “Good evening, Peter, Mr Stark sent me an address for you to go to, would you like me to find the quickest possible route?” 

 

“Yeah, that would be great, thanks, Karen.” 

 

Karen gave him instructions as he swung through the city, eventually finding himself on the rooftop across the street from the address that Tony had given him. He crouched down and tried to peer through any windows but to no avail, he couldn’t see anything even when he asked Karen to zoom in. 

 

“Can you scan for heat signatures and figure out where they are?” 

 

“Sure, Peter,” Karen complied, pulling up graphics of multiple heat signatures that appeared to be below the ground level. “There appears to be ten people, all of which have guns.” 

 

“Ten?” Peter squeaked his eyes widening. “I thought drug deals were meant to be as low key as possible to avoid you know, me. Can you send out droney and figure out the best way for me to get in?” 

 

“Activating Reconnaissance Drone,” The spider emblem flew out of his chest and around the building. “Locating optimal entry point.” 

 

“Proceed to the west air vent.” 

 

Peter cringed at the image of it, the vent not looking particularly big. “Are you sure I can fit in there?” 

 

“According to my calculations, the vent in five inches wider and two inches taller than you are when horizontal.” 

 

“If you say so,” Peter huffed, swinging across the street and down to the air vent. 

 

He pulled the grate off with relative ease, throwing it to the side before wriggling his way in and thank god, the actual vent was bigger than the opening. He was able to pull himself through the vent as quietly as possible, asking Karen to lead him to where they were. 

 

Their gruff voices eventually become less muffled, the conversation clearly full of tension between two parties. Peter could care less about what exactly they were saying but he’d heard enough about an insane amount of money and an insane amount of various different drugs to know what he was about to get himself into. 

 

He reached the vent of the room they were in and pulled it off as quietly and quickly as he could, thankfully none of them seemed to notice even when the grate clattered against the inside of the vent. 

 

An involuntary sigh escaped his mouth when he thought about the fact he could be spending  _ quality _ time with Felicia right now, but instead he was here. He’d have to get Tony back for that but as Peter crawled across the ceiling and over the heads of mobsters, he decided that now wasn’t the time. 

 

He lowered himself upside down on a web, falling directly in the middle of both parties. “I almost feel bad for stopping you guys from earning a few hundred thousand dollars, but I’m trying to get on the cop’s good side, sorry.”  

 

There was an outburst of shouts from everyone in the room as Peter managed to rip the gun out of the hands of four people in mere seconds. His head moved to the side without trying as his skin prickled and a bullet whizzed past him. “Seriously, dude? The face? It’s my moneymaker,” 

 

“No one even knows what you look like!” The man growled as his gun was ripped from him. 

 

“I suppose you’re right,” Peter mused, webbing him to the wall. “But I’d still like to have a face to hide.”  

 

He felt it coming, but there was nothing he could do about it. A bullet shot through his web, sending him flying to the floor. Peter landed with a groan, pushing himself upright as quickly as possible but it was too late, the butt of a pistol landed on his jaw before he could even straighten up. 

 

“Ow,” He grumbled, managing to grab the gun before it could land on him for a second time. 

 

Peter was doing his best, he really was, but there were ten guys and one of him. Not to mention, half of them still had guns while Peter, well, Peter had webs. With wide eyes and a huff he webbed up a few more guys but the others were able to lane more and more hits on him even as he dodged stray bullets. 

 

He took another blow to the stomach and while attempting to simultaneously nursing and ignoring the pain, a white-hot pain shot up from the back of his leg. Peter should’ve known that the risk of getting shot in this situation was high but somehow, he’d never actually  _ been _ shot. 

 

“Fuck!” He yelped, anger and pain tinting his voice as he put his hand where the aching pain was before falling to the ground. 

 

“Critical wound detected in the left thigh, there appears to be a bullet still inside, no exit wound,” Karen stated, making Peter groan and resist snapping back at her. 

 

“Goodbye, itsy-bitsy Spider,” The largest of the group towered over him, the gun aimed right at his head. 

 

“Real original,” Peter sighed, using his spare hand to web up the barrel of the gun, only for three more to be pointed at him. 

 

It hadn’t really hit him until now but, fuck, he could actually die. Through the superhero persona, he was still a human, a human that didn’t exactly want to die while barely into his twenties. 

 

His heart beat faster and faster and he shut his eyes, waiting for it because he knew that the second he fired a web he would be shot anyway. It never came. 

 

Multiple cries of pain echoed around the room and Peter opened his eyes, spotting the guys who weren’t webbed up bending down and clutching their calves. He furrowed his brows, sitting up and letting confusion override the pain. 

 

“Are you just gonna sit there or web them up? Because they’ll only be in pain for so long,” Her voice pierced through the groans and Peter’s breath got stuck in his throat. Black Cat wiped her claws on her suit, unbothered by the blood from slicing multiple legs open. She looked back at Peter and furrowed her brows, waving her hands in the air. “Well?” 

 

Peter snapped out of it, webbing their hands, legs and mouths as quickly as possible. Black Cat walked over and offered him a hand, he took it, avoided putting any weight on his left leg as he stood up with her help. “Thanks.” 

 

“You’re bleeding like, everywhere.” 

 

“Really? I had no idea,” Peter huffed, trying his best to get a look at the wound but only causing himself more pain. “Why and how are you even here?”

 

“I have my reasons,” She hummed, walking over to a suitcase that had slid over to the corner over the room at some point. Black Cat flicked it open, a wide smile donning her face as she looked over the stacks of cash. “Besides, without me you’d be dead and not a few thousand dollars richer.” 

 

Peter was about to reply when a band of cash was thrown over to him, catching it without thinking. He watched as she grabbed a few, stuffing them into a bag by her side. “So this was one of your reasons then.” 

 

“Smart and sexy, I like it,” She smiled. “The other reason is that I had nothing better to do, considering my man bounced on me. I wouldn’t mind replacing him with you, though.” 

 

“I’m sure you’re great and all, but I’ve got a fucking bullet in my leg that my body is about to trap there forever so, maybe another time?” Peter grumbled, tossing the money in his hand. “I can’t take this.” 

 

“Who cares? This money is probably laundered and they’re criminals, they deserve it,” The thief furrowed her brows as she looked him up and down. “If you don’t want I will gladly take it.” 

 

Peter sighed, looking at what was at least ten grand in his hand. After a moral debate with himself, he shoved the stack into his suit. Black Cat smiled widely and bit her lip, feeling smug with herself as Peter rolled his eyes. “It’s not like I get paid to do this job. Now, Karen,” Peter finally acknowledged the actions he should’ve taken ten minutes ago. “Call the police and tell them what’s happened, now call Tony and tell him I’m gonna swing by because uh- yeah.” 

 

Felicia shut the case after all but clearing it of money before walking to the door and looking back at Peter. “See you around, maybe next time you’ll actually catch me. I doubt it though.” 

 

Peter sighed and pulled his hand away to look at the blood that was no doubt staining his skin. He almost couldn’t believe she’d managed to distract him so much he’d almost forgotten he’d been shot. Peter had to admit, he couldn’t exactly be mad at her when she’d literally just saved his life. 

 

With a few groans and grunts, he limped up the stairs and out of the building, sighing in relief when he could finally use his preferred mode of transportation. He kept one leg over the wound as he swung, trying and failing to keep as much blood in as possible. 

 

He landed in front of the Tower, where Tony and Bruce were already waiting for him. Peter pulled off his mask and stumbled forward, a dizzy smile erupting. “Hey Mr Stark, Hey Mr Banner. My leg really hurts.” 

 

Peter didn’t know what happened next because stars engulfed his vision and he fell to the ground. His muscles relaxed and he closed his eyes, blocking out the pain and Tony’s worried voice. 

  
Even as he fainted, all he could think about, was  _ her _ . 


	4. Chapter 4

 

With every slow breath he took, another sense returned to Peter. First, it was the feel of cold linen under him, the lack of his skin-tight suit. Then it was the smell, the strong stench of anti-septic made him scrunch his nose and furrow his brows. He heard the scraping of a chair on the linoleum floor but he was still reluctant to open his eyes, the bright lights already hurting. 

 

A small hand grabbed his own and he immediately knew it was May’s, Peter grumbled and raised up a hand to rub his eye, an IV tube flopping around as he did so. He sighed and squeezed his eyes tighter. “Too bright.”

 

“FRIDAY, turn the lights to thirty per cent,” A stoic voice that made Peter tense up instructed, the lights immediately going dim enough for him to finally open his eyes. 

 

He took another deep breath and looked to his right, where May was peering at him with her worried doe-eyes, puffy from crying. Peter immediately felt bad, his heart clenching as her hand ran through his hair. “I’m sorry for scaring you.” 

 

“I’m just glad you’re okay but God, when Tony called and said you fainted right in front of him covered in your own blood I nearly had a heart attack,” She gave him a small smile but sighed, her hand still consistently running through his hair. 

 

“Then both of us would be in here and that wouldn’t be good,” Peter tried to joke, cracking a smile but immediately sobering up when no one laughed. 

 

“What’s not good,” Tony stood up and held up the stack of cash, Peter paled. “Is stealing ten grand, from criminals sure but stealing nonetheless--” 

 

“Tony, not now,” May sighed. 

 

“Yes now,” He interrupted, turning back to Peter. “I told you to bust them, web ‘em up, call the police, not steal money and stuff it in your suit that you clearly didn’t want anyone to know about.” 

 

“Look, technically it wasn’t my fault,” Peter defended, clearing his throat and swallowing, attempting to combat his dry throat. May handed him an open bottle of water. 

 

“You were the only one there so unless one of those guys shoved it in there himself, I don’t believe you.” 

 

“First of all, you set me up, there were ten of them and they all had guns.” May’s face dropped at the number. “Secondly, I wasn’t alone the entire time. I was up until I got shot and then Black Cat showed up and stole-” 

“Black Cat?” Bruce asked, furrowing his brows. “Who’s that?” 

 

“She’s a cat burglar the police asked me to capture,” Peter sighed. “She’s impossible to find,  _ she _ finds  _ me. _ Anyway, she took probably one hundred thousand and threw me a stack. I was bleeding out on the fucking ground, I didn’t feel like fighting so I just took it.”

 

“You could’ve dropped it,” Tony retorted, Peter huffed, not enjoying his common sense. “Why didn’t you web her up to if you have a job to catch her?” 

 

“Because,  _ Tony _ ,” Peter said the name with venom. “Without her, I would be dead.” 

 

“Peter,” May growled him, her heart not behind it. 

 

He ignored her, not breaking eye contact with Tony. His jaw was clenched and his teeth ground together, partly because of the pain slowly returning to his leg. Tony raised a brow at him and Peter still didn’t falter. He almost felt proud of himself, considering that five years ago Peter would have never had the guts to even say no to Tony. Tony could’ve asked fifteen-year-old Peter to jump off a cliff and he would’ve done it. 

 

“Look,” Bruce sliced through the tension in the room. “Tony’s right, you shouldn’t have taken the money but he shouldn’t have sent you in there without back up in a non-bulletproof suit. We can talk about this later because Peter just woke up from surgery and needs to rest.” 

 

“Fine,” Tony resigned. “Also next time, take a two-minute break from the blow job when you’re talking to me.” 

 

Peter went red, looking up at the ceiling and closing his eyes. He felt like he was about to throw up as May’s grip on his hand slackened. He sighed, listening to Tony’s footsteps leave the room. Peter almost wanted to yell, angry that Tony thought he could say something like that and get away with it. 

 

“You better hope you never do that to me,” May broke the awkwardness, playfulness tinting her quiet voice rather than the anger he was expecting. 

 

“What? I’m serious. She laughed and squeezed his hand again. Peter couldn’t help but let out a little laugh, raising his hand up to his face again, attempting to cover up his blush. He cringed, a whine escaping his mouth as he turned away from her. “Is it Gwen, she keeps texting your phone about a study group or something.”

 

Peter followed her head tilt to his phone that someone had placed on the table next to his bed, mumbling that it wasn’t Gwen. He grabbed it and scrolled through all the texts. There were multiple from Harry and Ned, asking why he hadn’t come home, asking if he was dead, the usual. There were a couple from MJ asking why he wasn’t in their shared class and a few from Gwen, sending random details about the study group in broken texts. 

 

He replied to all his messages, telling MJ he was sick but Ned and Harry the truth. In hindsight, that probably wasn’t a good idea because Ned continued to blow up his phone for the next ten minutes. He apologised to Gwen, telling her that he wouldn’t be able to come today because he was sick but that they should study together tomorrow at her place. She agreed. 

 

Peter was just about to put his phone down when another text came rolling through, from a person he couldn’t ignore. 

 

_ ‘heard you’re coming over to tomorrow… when you get bored of the square i’ll be in my room’  _

 

_ ‘I felt bad,’  _ he partly lied _. ‘I promised i’d go to her group and im sick today... Can’t make it.’  _

 

_ ‘I could think of a couple ways to make you feel better’ _

 

He didn’t reply, Mr Stark announcing Peter’s blowjob to the whole damn tower was bad enough. Getting a boner in front of May would just be the icing on the cake. With a gulp, he put his phone back down, making sure it was face down. 

 

Peter looked over at May, his cheeks flushing again. “May--” 

 

“Peter,” She smiled, running her fingers through his hair, making him lean into her hand. “As long as you’re safe, I don’t care. It wasn’t a coincidence I gave you the talk the day after you stayed the night at MJ’s house when I knew her parents were out of town because they told me.” 

 

“Oh,” Peter blushed. 

 

“It’s your body and as long as your partners respect it and so do you, I don’t mind. It’s your business, not mine,” She smiled and stroked his cheek. “Now, get some sleep. Dr Banner said your leg should be fine to walk on by this afternoon thanks to your healing.” 

 

Peter nodded, smiling at her as she pressed a kiss to his head before leaving the room. He yawned, looking up at the ceiling before his eyes fluttered shut, falling into a dreamless sleep. 

  
  


Bruce let Peter get back to his apartment later that day, telling him to take it easy and not go out on patrol for a couple of days. Peter didn’t see Tony before he left and quite frankly, he didn’t want to. 

 

It was petty and Peter knew he shouldn’t have taken the money but hey, it was ten grand. Tony was rich and Peter was pretty sure he didn’t know what it was like to pay for rent a week late with half borrowed money every time. Considering the situation, Peter didn’t think it was all that bad. 

 

Not to mention, Tony had embarrassed him so horrifically that Peter thought he might never recover. 

 

May had driven Peter back, saying goodbye with a kiss to his cheek before he got out, watching her drive away. He had a slight limp as he walked, sighing in relief when he got to lean on the railing in the elevator. 

 

The second he opened the door to his apartment, Ned and Harry came barrelling towards him, squeezing Peter tightly as they both erupted with questions. Peter huffed as the air was knocked out of him but hugged back, assuring the boys that he was fine. 

 

When they finally let him go he flopped onto the couch, closing his eyes as she lay down. A groan escaped his mouth and he fake pouted, really playing up the pity card. 

 

“We got you larb,” Harry chimed, sounding rather proud of himself as he boosted to the kitchen before coming back with a container of Thai food. Peter peeked at him through one eye, smiling and extending his hands for the food. Harry handed hit to him along with a knife and fork before sitting on the end of the couch. “So what’s it like being shot?” 

 

Peter sat up slightly and dug into his food, it being the first thing he’d eaten in nearly 24 hours. He raised his brows and looked at his friends before opening his full mouth. “It fucking hurts, at first, it felt like a bee sting and then holy shit-- it hurt.” 

 

“What about your suit?” Ned asked, clearly more concerned about the Spider-Man aspect of this story. 

 

“Ripped, covered in blood. Mr Stark is fixing it,” Peter grumbled out the last part. 

 

“Why the sudden anger at Mr Stark?” Ned questioned. Ned had seen Peter go through various stages with his mentor through the years, but the majority of the time Peter acted as if Tony could never step a toe over the line. 

 

“Long story,” Peter sighed. “Did you go to Gwen’s thing?” 

 

“Yeah,” Ned shrugged. “It was alright, she seemed a little upset though.” 

 

“Did she say anything about me?” 

 

“She said you told her you were sick and well, fair enough,” Ned gestured to his leg. “She also complained about her roommate, Felicity or something.” 

 

“Felicia,” Peter corrected, shoving larb into his mouth. “Her roommate is Felicia.” 

 

“As in, the girl you fucked, Felicia?” Harry furrowed his brows. Peter nodded and Harry laughed. “You’re kidding! That’s gold, Gwen never shuts up about you.” 

 

“Huh?” Peter queried. 

 

“She always goes on about how smart you are and how nice you are and blah, blah, blah,” Harry rolled his eyes while Ned nodded. 

 

“Weird,” Peter mused, turning on the TV. “Felicia hates her, like, hates her. Says she’s boring and oh God, I was stuck between both of them in class the other day and I never wanted to run away more.” 

 

“When the fuck did you become a ladies man?” Ned squeaked, Harry humming in agreement. “You have sex with this girl once at a party and suddenly they’re all over you.” 

 

“Three times, probably four by tomorrow.” 

 

“Three?” Harry shouted. “No fair! No offence but I’m way better looking and I’ve only be laid once in the past two weeks.” 

 

“Yeah well,” Peter shrugged. “I’m Spider-Man.” 

  
  


The next day of classes was exhausting. His leg had almost healed entirely so that wasn’t the issue. Peter hadn’t had much sleep the night before due to nightmares, which he had managed to avoid for a little while but he supposed that being shot did things to people. 

 

Someone had slammed their laptop shut particularly harshly, causing Peter to jump in his seat. All the doors opening and closing made his heart pound at an increasing right and his eyes dart side to side, taking in every little thing. 

 

His spidey-sense never shut up, the constant tingle never leaving his spine and slightly driving him insane. The only time it calmed down was when he sat next to MJ in one of his classes, who immediately told him he looked like shit before handing her the notes he missed from the day before. 

 

Peter almost cancelled on Gwen again, but every time he opened up their messages to type something out, he couldn’t do it. The small smiley faces she put at the end of her texts along with the magnitude of exclamation marks made his stomach swirl. 

 

He hadn’t seen Felicia the whole day even though he was looking for her. Peter wasn’t sure why but even though she made him nervous, she made him comfortable at the same time. She was a walking oxymoron, one that Peter couldn’t figure out. He decided that she just wasn’t there, because who could miss her masses of platinum blonde hair? 

 

The first blonde he saw all day was Gwen. Peter walked to her apartment, her text with the address on it remained unopened, he knew the way too well. He blasted music through his headphones as loud as he could handle it before raising his fist and knocking on the door. 

 

Peter twisted his foot on the ground while he waited for the door to open, his hair falling into his face. When the door opened he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding when it was Gwen who was in front of him and not Felicia. He returned her smile, “Hey.” 

 

“Hey, Peter,” She stepped aside and let him come in, leading him to their dining table. “Do you want anything to drink?” 

 

“Uh, just water, thanks,” He replied, setting his things down and getting his books out before sitting at the table, bringing his foot up under him and leaning his elbow on it. 

 

Gwen came back, holding glasses of water for both of them and setting one down in front of him before taking a seat at the head of the table. Peter muttered a thanks and took a sip, glancing at Felicia's bedroom door. 

 

“She’s not here.” 

 

“Hm?” Peter raised his brows and looked back at Gwen. 

 

“Felicia,” She smiled small. “She’s not here. No doubt she’ll be back in the middle of the night.” 

 

Peter caught the distaste in her voice as she reached the end of her sentence. He furrowed his brows. “Why is she always back late?”

 

“Uh,” Gwen looked confused. “She says she's at yours, as of recent anyway.” 

 

“She’s never been to my apartment,” Peter replied, twirling a pen around in his fingers. 

 

“Then I’ve got no idea. She left here yesterday at about nine and came back at like ten thirty, she always comes back sweaty and just- needing a shower. So I just assumed--” 

 

“No,” Peter tapped his pen on the table. “So she comes back late, like every night?” 

 

“Felicia doesn’t tell me anything, just calls me boring before she leaves late and comes back late. It’s not every night but it’s often,” Gwen said before scoffing. “For all I know, she could be Spider-Man.” 

 

Peter laughed a little before all the pieces fell into place. The hair, the eyes, the voice, the  _ flirting _ . The late nights, the fact she’d been missing last night at the same time Black Cat was with him, the same smug grin they both never ceased to have. His face paled and his breath got stuck in his throat, his eyes wide in disbelief. 

 

Peter didn’t want to believe it, he refused to believe it. It almost wasn’t fair. Scratch that, it wasn’t fair at all. 

 

Since he was fifteen, Tony constantly told him to do was try and be a normal high schooler, try and be a normal college student. Of course, Peter still had obligations but there was a balance that everyone constantly encouraged him to find. 

 

Just when he thought he found it, of course, _ of course _ , he didn’t actually find it. Typical Peter luck. First Liz’s dad is the vulture, his first girlfriend just had to have a criminal for a dad didn’t she? When he went on his school trip attempting to just go on a fucking school trip, Nick Fury had to hijack it, and now, Felicia fucking Hardy was the cat burglar he’d been assigned to track down and take in. 

 

With this information, he could easily bring her in and he could do it in a heartbeat. At that thought, his heart stopped. There was no way in hell Peter would be able to turn her over to the cops, Spider-Man or not.

 

Of course, both girls he never stopped thinking about were actually, just literally the same girl. 

 

Peter was just about to get down on his knees and ask God what he ever did to deserve all this bad luck when Gwen cleared her throat. “Peter? Are you okay?” 

 

“Yeah, yeah, sorry, just got lost in my thoughts,” He shook his head and looked down at his book. “So do you think you could catch me up with what I missed yesterday?”

 

Gwen nodded and immediately launched into the work, rambling off page numbers and theories for Peter to copy down. Peter already knew them, thanks to working with Mr Stark, but he still listened to Gwen, taking in everything she was saying. 

 

Every time she looked up at him, a light blush would dust her cheeks before immediately looking away from him and scribbling something else down for him. He pulled his knee closer to his chest, resting his chin on it as he worked through different problems as best as he could with this new revelation. 

 

Just as he began to explain something to Gwen, the apartment door clicked open and in walked Felicia, her hair up in the same ponytail Black Cat always wore it in. She smiled at Peter, tilting her head to the side as she walked over and placed a hand on his head and tugging slightly at his roots. 

 

He cleared his throat and looked up at her, clenching his pen tighter as a scoff came from Gwen. Felicia ran the hand through his hair before going into the kitchen. “You two sure look like you’re having the time of your lives.” 

 

“Where have you been?” Gwen asked any warmth she held when she spoke to Peter dissipating into a cold tone. “Can’t use Peter’s as an excuse this time.” 

 

“The gym,” Felicia stated, raising a cup to her lips and drinking the water quickly. 

 

Peter looked her up and down, his eyes locking on the duffel bag by her side. He wondered what was in it. The hundreds of thousands of dollars she stole? Another piece of (over-priced) expensive art? Most importantly, was there a leather catsuit probably shoved tightly into the corner? 

 

Felicia dropped the bag, locking eyes with Peter before winking at him. Peter blushed and shook his head, looking back down at his notes. 

 

He’d have to figure something out, because letting himself melt every time a criminal looked at him wasn’t okay. Besides, wasn’t it meant to be the other way around? The boy was meant to be the one that the girl melt, right? That’s what the movies had always shown anyway. 

 

Then again, was Peter’s life ever like the movies? 

 

Gwen and Felicia were bickering in the background and Peter looked back at the discarded bag. It was risky, but for Peter’s own peace of mind, he had to do it. He fired a web at the zipper of the bag, pulling it as quietly as he possibly could to open the bag. 

 

He occasionally glanced at the two girls, they were both far too preoccupied to notice anything Peter was doing. Peter didn’t pull it open all the way, but he pulled it open enough to see the edge of a bundle of cash and shiny black material, which he immediately knew was her suit. 

 

Peter retracted the web (a very handy update he and Tony had managed to come up with) and resumed his sitting position. 

 

“--Oh my God, we get it, you’re jealous of me, the whole world knows it, Gwen! Just admit it.” 

 

“I am not,” Gwen scoffed and Peter jumped back into their conversation, looking between them and pausing when Felicia put a scheming smirk on her face. 

She walked over to Peter, grabbing his jaw in her hand before bending down and placing her lips on his. Peter froze, his eyes wide open but eventually shutting when she cupped his face with both hands. 

 

He pulled away from her when he heard books slam shut angrily and Gwen’s chair all but topple over. Peter opened his mouth to say something, reaching out to Gwen but stopped when her bedroom door slammed shut. “She likes you, you know?”

 

“Really?” Peter squeaked, watching her roll her eyes. Her thumb rubbed his jaw as she leaned down to kiss him again. Peter jerked his back last night, trying to ignore the somewhat hurt look she gave him. “I don’t wanna get you sick.” 

 

“You don’t sound sick, it’s fine,” She shrugged, climbing onto his lap, fortunately missing his bullet wound. 

 

“Yeah but, you know, it’s probably like still in my system or whatever,” Peter stuttered, his hands holding her waist. “Plus, I-I’d feel bad with Gwen--” 

 

“Who cares about Gwen?” Felicia scoffed, leaning back in his lap. 

 

“Well, you know, she’s nice,” Peter spoke slowly, gauging her reaction. “And if she does, like me, it would just be a kick in the face to her.” 

 

“Exactly, you’re mine,” She growled, fisting the collar of his shirt. 

 

Yeah, well, Felicia didn’t exactly seem to be his when she asked Spider-Man to sleep with her last night.

 

He resisted rolling his eyes and ran a hand up her waist, pushing her shirt up slightly. The air stuck in his lungs couldn’t be any more relevant to how he was feeling. Peter had never felt so conflicted in his life. 

 

It wasn’t like Felicia was his girlfriend, right? If she was, she was a terrible one. He could turn her over and she would never know it was Peter behind the mask. But Peter would know. 

 

He knew Felicia wasn’t a bad person, she was good. So he really couldn’t understand why she did the things she did. In all honesty, Peter didn’t know much about her at all besides what the file told him and that now made him feel like he was invading her private life. 

 

Peter knew her dad was dead and it didn’t even happen all that long ago. That was something Peter shouldn’t have known until she decided it was time. The guilt was starting to eat away at him so just as she was about to place her lips on his, he spoke. “Both my parents are dead.” 

 

“Oh?” She furrowed her brows. 

 

“They died when I was young, I can barely remember them. I moved in with my Aunt and Uncle and then my Uncle was murdered when I was fourteen, so now it’s just me and May. May’s my Aunt,” Peter’s eyes flickered between her and the ground. “Then I got an internship with Tony Stark and he’s like- he’s like a father figure to me I guess. He’s paying my tuition even though I begged him not too and-- and I don’t know why I’m telling you this because all we do is have sex and that’s what it’s meant to be, right? Just sex? Right? I’ve talked too much.” 

 

“Well,” Felicia spoke up after a while. “I don’t really know what this is. Whatever we want it to be, I guess. And-- I’m not really the type of person to spill out my family history randomly so sorry I can’t return the- the-” She furrowed her brows. “But I can tell that you think you don’t know a lot about me and you don’t like it but um, I’m not ready to say all that much.” 

 

“Yeah,” Peter let out a breath he was holding. He was surprised at how easily she was able to read him. “And that’s fine, we haven’t exactly known each other long but I think I know you enough to know what kind of person you are.” 

 

“Really?” She laughed slightly. “What kind of person is that?” 

 

“A good one,” He shrugged as her eyes softened and she looked away. 

 

“If I’m good, you’re a saint, Parker.” 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg hi i just wanted to say the response on this story has been ??? insane ??? you guys are so into it and it’s so nice to hear feedback and see you guys ask questions lol. it honestly makes me a better writer. i’m a bit scared i’m gonna do something wrong though and you guys will bite my head off so please don’t lol. i haven’t actually read all that many comics and i honestly don’t know A LOT about them but i promise i’ve done a fair amount of research on felicia and im trying to find time to read comics she’s in hehe   
> again thank you all so much for the response it’s amazing xx   
> twitter: @/rueshewitt

Peter hadn’t been on patrol in almost a week in a vain attempt to avoid Black Cat, or, should he call her Felicia now. He’d also done everything in his power to avoid Felicia, going so far as to sit in the very corner of the lecture rooms with Gwen and a wall on either side. Felicia wouldn’t sit next to Gwen if a gun was held up to her head, which with the kind of profession she was in, was a more than likely situation.

 

The guilt was beginning to eat away at him, the guilt of both avoiding patrol and avoiding Felicia. If he caught a glimpse of her, he’d duck his head down and avoid any sort of eye contact but he could feel her eyes burning into him.

 

He’d also been avoiding texts and calls from Tony Stark, which he knew were just going to be about getting his ass back out on patrol. He also knew that the NYPD was going to be chasing him up about Felicia but he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t turn it in. If he could, he would.

 

To say Peter was having a moral dilemma was a severe understatement. The right thing to do would be to turn her in? Wouldn't it? That’s what his job was, stop the bad guys. Technically, the girl was a bad guy but he didn’t want her to be. Feelings weren’t meant to get in the way of doing his job though?

 

He’d felt conflicted before, letting guys who did petty thefts go when he could tell they did it out of desperation. However, Peter would always pay for what they needed after giving them a two-minute lecture, the things they were attempting to steal often being loaves of bread of bottles of water.

 

This was different. Felicia was committing grand theft, that as far as he knew, could be up to the first degree. What he couldn’t figure out was, why. Again, as far as he knew it was just for fun.

 

Peter had thought long and hard about what he was meant to do and never came to a conclusion.

 

Desperate times called for desperate measures, at least that’s what he told himself when he, thanks to FRIDAY, let himself into Tony’s penthouse. His finger bounced off the book he was clutching nervously, his stomach queasy.

 

It wasn't that he wasn’t supposed to be here, Tony had told him that he could visit whenever he wanted without warning. Peter had abused that many times over the years.

 

“Hey, kid,” Tony’s voice boomed around the room when Peter let himself in. “What’s up?”

 

“Hey, Tony,” Peter sighed, walking to the couches where the older man was sitting and sitting on an armchair next to him. He dumped his stuff down on the floor before running a hand over his face. “First of all, I should probably apologise.”

 

“It’s okay, Peter, I overreacted,” Tony slapped down a glass of whiskey in front of Peter. Peter raised his brow, giving Tony an incredulous look. “Oh c’mon, it’s me, and we both know you’re not a stranger to alcohol.”

 

Peter rolled his eyes but smiled slightly. He picked up the glass and smelt the amber liquid. Peter scrunched up his face at the smell and took a sip. A hand covered his mouth as she put the glass down and he shook his head, trying to shake the burn out of his throat. “That’s fucking disgusting, you drink this?”

 

“Just because all you drink is Vodka and lemonade doesn’t mean it’s bad,” Tony rolled his eyes and drank his own glass. “Anyway, I owe you an apology too because I get why you took the money, but it was still a lapse in your moral judgement.”

 

“Speaking of lapses in moral judgement,” Peter laughed a little and scratched the bad of his neck. Tony paled, looking at Peter with a vexed expression. “Before you get mad-- I haven’t actually physically done anything.”

 

“Expand,” Tony retorted, tapping his fingers on the arm of the couch.

 

“You know the trolley problem?” Peter took Tony’s blank expression as a no. “Well, it’s basically the situation where there’s a trolley coming down the tracks and there’s nothing you can do to stop it but there are five people who can’t move in the way. You could pull the lever and direct the trolley in another direction but on that side, there’s a person you love who can’t move. So do you pull the lever and save five strangers but kill your loved one, or do you leave it, killing five people but saving your loved one? I feel like I’m living in that right now.”

 

“Has someone kidnapped May? Are you being blackmailed? I can help,” Tony immediately replied, suddenly very worried.

 

“No, no, no,” Peter quickly cleared the air. “I just feel like I’m stuck in a moral dilemma but-- I know what the right thing to do is but I can’t do it.”

 

“You’re being very vague.”

 

“If you found out someone you knew, maybe as more than a friend, was wanted by the police, would you turn them in?” Peter finally pushed it out, hoping Tony wouldn’t ask for more details.

 

“How big of a deal is the crime?”

 

“Um, kind of big. Not like murder, but bigger than say, running a red light,” Peter leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and pulling at his fingers.

 

“That’s a tough question and I am not the right person to ask. You know, Steve protected his friend even though he was a murderer, but he was brainwashed so I guess it’s different. If we were normal people, I’d say leave it but we’re not. As Spider-Man, you have a responsibility to do the right thing according to the law so I’m saying turn them in.”

 

Peter stayed quiet. That wasn’t the answer he wanted. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, looking down at his fingers. His jaw clenched and he took a deep breath, images of Felicia flitting through his mind, not all of them being entirely innocent.

 

“You’re not going to, are you?”

 

Peter glanced up at Tony quickly, deciding that it was better to be honest with the man rather than try to lie to him like so many times in the past. He’d learnt that Tony always figured things out in the end and it would just end up with both of them upset. “No.”

 

“Alright,” Tony sighed. “Well, you came here for my advice and-- am I offended you’re not taking it? Not gonna lie, kind of. Am I disappointed? Yes.”

 

“I can’t- I can’t bring myself to physically do it. I know I should but I just- I can’t do it,” Peter muttered, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair.

 

“Your job is to bring the criminals in, not fall in love with them,” Tony scowled.

 

“I’m not in love with her,” He mumbled, his voice trailing off into nothingness.

 

“Then you would turn her in.”

 

“She’s a good person, I know she is.”

 

“She’s a criminal,” Tony retorted. “I don’t care if she did your homework for you, changed your diapers or got you laid, she’s a criminal.”

 

“People can change,” Peter was getting angrier, never breaking eye contact with his mentor. “You did!”

 

“Yeah, they can, and you taking that money was the first step down a slippery slope. The Peter I took to Germany would’ve never taken that money,” Tony sat up straighter in his seat, his face straighter than ever before with not an ounce of amusement.

 

“I was fourteen,” He growled. “I didn’t have to worry about how I was going to pay for my next meal then. In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t exactly get paid to be Spider-Man. All I get is shot in the fucking leg and told off by the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz, except this one is over-confident and over-glorified. Also, you didn’t ‘take’ me to Germany, you took advantage of me and used me. Cap dropped an entire jet bridge on me, so yeah, really fucking great holiday in Germany.”

 

“Germany was a mistake, I know but that’s beside the point. You came here for my advice, I know you knew what I was going to say and you knew you wouldn’t like it. It’s not my fault you’re letting your dick get in the way of your job,  _ kid _ .”

 

Peter huffed angrily as Tony spat the word Peter had gotten used to as a term of endearment. This was different, Tony said it in a way that he knew would hurt Peter. It hurt even more now, the word stripped of all affection and fired at him in a way that hurt more than the bullet.

 

Peter knew he was still young, even though it had felt like a lifetime since meeting Tony. Even so, Peter had seen things, done things that no one of any age should’ve had to experience. No fifteen year old should ever have a building dropped on them, just as no sixteen year old should have to die on a whole other planet.

 

He stood up quickly and swiped up his things, his bag swinging dangerously on his shoulder. The bag hit a lamp on the table next to him but Peter shot around quickly and grabbed it before it hit the ground. No doubt he’d just saved thousands of dollars from smashing into pieces.

 

“Better not break that, considering it could probably pay for my rent for the rest of the year,” Peter snapped, leaving the penthouse before Tony could get another word in.

 

Days later Peter was still harbouring anger from his fight with Tony. He’d been snapping at everyone, Ned, Harry even May. He’d snapped once at MJ but she gave him a bored expression and threatened to pull his fingernails off one by one, Peter kept his cool around her from then on. The only person Peter didn’t get angry at was Gwen.

 

Gwen was never anything but nice to Peter, there wasn’t a single time where Peter thought about saying something even remotely rude. She made him laughed, she made him smile and feel content. With every word she spoke, another cloud left the storm in Peter’s brain but the second he and Gwen parted ways, the storm came back worse.

 

So needless to say, he was spending a lot of time with Gwen. They would go to a cafe just off campus and study. Neither of them really needed to study, but for Peter, it was a distraction. They would study and make small talk, Peter would always end up next to Gwen, their study long forgotten.

 

After his last class of the day, which he’d had with Gwen, they were walking down a corridor when his arm was all but pulled out of the socket. Peter tripped over his feet and his sentence before looking for what had pulled him. He sighed, making eye contact with the short platinum blonde.

 

“Felicia I’m busy,” Peter bit the inside of his cheek.

 

“You’re always busy lately,” She whined, sarcasm tinting her voice as she fiddled with his fingers before she scowling at Gwen.

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Peter,” Gwen smiled, ignoring Felicia’s glare and pressing a kiss to his cheek. Peter resisted a blush but smiled down at her, nodding as she left.

 

He stumbled as he was tugged into an empty lecture room, Felicia shutting the door before pressing him up against it. Her hands came up and wrapped around his neck, pulling him in closer to her. Her breath fanned over his lips as he ducked his head down slightly.

 

“You’ve been avoiding me,” She whispered as her fingers toyed with the curls at the nape of his neck.

 

“What?” He forced out a laugh. “No way.”

 

“Don’t lie to me, Parker,” Felicia hummed, raking her fingers further up his scalp. Peter sighed and shivered under her touch. Her lips ghosted over his, the sensation of being so close yet so far away drove Peter insane. “I know you miss me.”

 

His eyes fluttered shut as she pressed her lips to his, Peter immediately cupping her face as he kissed her in what felt like forever. He gasped when she bit down on his lip and she used his reaction as an opportunity to dive deeper into him.

 

She pulled away after a few moments before pressing her lips to his neck. Peter tilted his head to the side as her teeth grazed over his salty skin, his jaw clenching. Felicia followed up jawline, leaving a blazing trail of sloppy kisses in her wake.

 

It was only when she tugged at his earlobe with her teeth that he realised what he was doing. Peter felt like he was falling from cloud nine and no matter how bad he wanted to swing back up, he knew he couldn’t. He knew he  _ shouldn’t _ .

 

“Fee--” Peter sighed.

 

“I like it when you call me that,” She smiled, pushing a hand under his shirt.

 

Peter grabbed her wrist and pulled his hand out, much to his body’s complaint. Her face fell as Peter looked down at her, his lips pursed together. Felicia licked her lips and hesitantly cupped his face, her thumb stroking his cheek. “Is something wrong?”

 

“I’m just-- I’ve got class,” He replied, cringing when they both knew that was a lie. “I promise I’d help Gwen study.”

 

“Gwen,” She hummed, sucking in her cheeks and stepping away from him. “I’d at least expect someone who’s definition of ‘fun’ isn’t cutting paper on an angle.”  

 

Peter clenched his jaw again, not liking the way Felicia spoke about Gwen. Just because Gwen didn’t get drunk or steal things for fun every chance she got didn’t mean she was boring. Peter rather enjoyed his time with Gwen because he actually got to know her. The only thing he knew about Felicia was how to make her scream his name.

 

Peter knew Black Cat, he didn’t know Felicia.

 

“Call me when you need me,” She finally said before pushing her way past Peter, leaving him alone in the lecture room.

 

It took him a few moments to pick himself back up and leave the room. He shook his head in a futile attempt to kick Felicia out. The storm in his head had gone from angry to confused, the dark grey clouds had turned into a muddy blue and Peter had trouble distinguishing one from the other.

 

He knew Gwen was in the library, she was always in the library. So that’s where he went. Peter had to admit, Felicia kind of had a point about Gwen doing nothing but study. As much as he enjoyed spending time with Gwen, he was kind of sick of studying, he’d run out of things to even work on.

 

Gwen never ran out and he wasn’t sure how. Maybe it was up to him to change that.

 

It wasn’t like Gwen had nothing else to do, she was funny, she’d expression plenty of interests and passion in different areas. Peter had no idea why she never acted on them. Or maybe she did and he just didn’t know about it.

 

He took a seat next to her when he found her, which wasn’t exactly hard, considering she was always surrounded by mountains of books. She smiled up at him, pushing her hair out of her face.

 

Gwen was so similar but so different to Felicia at the same time.

 

They were both fiercely themselves and maybe that’s why they butt heads so much. Both girls almost looked the same, with blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. But that was the thing, while Gwen shone with a certain degree of kindness Peter could never imagine having, Felicia could walk into a room and turn everyone’s head.

 

“Hey,” He smiled back at her, feeling slightly guilty about what had just gone down between him and Felicia.

 

“Hey,” Gwen replied, turning immediately back to studying.

 

“Do you wanna hang out sometime?” Peter squeaked, watching as her pen stilled and her cheeks turned red.

 

“We’re hanging out right now, Peter,” She laughed slightly, banging her pen against the pages.

 

“No, I meant, like, without studying.” He looked at her face, scratching the back of his neck.

 

Gwen looked at the lip he’d bitten down on, blushing even more before nodding her head and looking away from him. “Yeah, uh, what’d you have in mind?”

 

“Uh,” Peter blanked before forcing out a laugh. “I haven’t thought about that part yet.”

 

“Oh,” She whispered, her finger twirling a small piece of her hair. “There’s a really nice diner a couple of blocks away, maybe we could-- we could go there after class tomorrow or something. I mean, if you want.”

 

“No, that sounds good,” Peter replied, smiling widely. “Um, I gotta go, I promised Ned I’d play Fortnite with him. He's been begging me to play it for days.”

 

“Okay,” Gwen nodded, watching him stand up from his seat but nearly trip over the leg of the table. She laughed, Peter, blushing harder than before. “Bye, Peter,”

 

“Bye,” He breathed out, turning and leaving the library as fast as he could.

 

There was a small part of him that felt bad, almost as if he was using Gwen as some kind of rebound. He and Felicia had never actually dated though, so was it really a rebound? Gwen didn’t seem to mind, even though Peter had a feeling she knew what had gone down between the time she left him with Felicia and when he walked into the library. She was smart and she also wasn’t one to let herself be walked all over.

 

If Gwen thought she was just being used by Peter, there was no way she would have agreed to go on a date with him. Peter wasn’t sure if it was a date or not, but he supposed ‘hanging out’ wasn’t just ‘hanging out’ if there were somewhat romantic intentions behind it.

 

This wasn’t like being with Felicia, when he was with her, all he seemed to want to do is rip both their clothes off and pull her into bed. With Gwen, all he wanted to do was talk for hours. Maybe that was just because Felicia  _ didn’t _  talk, even though he wanted too.

 

Peter honestly wasn’t sure if he’d asked out Gwen just because she was there and he was still trying his hardest to stay away from Felicia. But if that was the only reason, then why hadn’t he asked out the girl in his Calculus class that constantly stared at him and never got any work done?

 

He brushed off his thoughts, disregarding them as overthinking. And so what if Gwen was a way to get Felicia out of his head, he still really liked Gwen in a maybe more-than-friends way. Besides, Felicia never left no matter what he did.

 

That night he was out on patrol, wearing the Iron Spider suit this time, he was still fairly shaken from being shot. He much preferred this suit for multiple reasons, one being it would stop him from catching a bullet ever again and two, it was just really fucking cool.

 

It was a somewhat slow night, he’d manage to stop a few muggings. But he started to regret what he’d said to Tony about not being paid to do this, he was finally remembering the thrill and adrenaline rush that came along with it. Not to mention, the grateful look on people’s faces when he handed over stolen bags, or returned runaway cats.  Speaking of which, there was one cat he still hadn’t managed to come to a conclusion on.

 

Peter’s job was to stop people getting hurt and as far as he could tell, Black Cat wasn’t hurting anyone. Well, she’d cut open the calves of a few mobsters but that was different. So, screw Mr Stark and his stupid rules and stupid morals. Peter was doing the right thing, right?

 

Nothing had been reported stolen, at least, nothing with suspicions of Felicia behind it. Now here he was, perched on top of an apartment building and trying his hardest to listen for any kind of activity.

 

There was a shattering of glass from his left, triggering Peter into leaping from the building and swinging as fast as he could towards it. He launched himself into the broken window, sliding along the ground in typical Spidey-fashion, catching his breath before standing up.

 

A groan escaped his mouth when he looked around and noticed he was in an art gallery. It only meant one thing.

 

“Evening, Spider,” Her voice soothed. Peter whipped his head around, not spotting her. “Look up.”

 

Peter complied, seeing Felicia descending from the ceiling by her grappling hook. She stopped when she was level with him, her eyes boring into his mask.

 

He was kicking himself, how the hell could he not recognise her before? The black mask around her eyes did barely anything to hide her identity, yet she still had Peter fooled. He supposed he didn’t know because he wasn’t exactly expecting Felicia, his, well, his fuck buddy to be the criminal he’d been told to hunt down.

 

“You stole my thing,” He muttered, pointing at the rope her legs were wrapped around.

 

“I suppose,” She mused, tilting her head to the side. “What brings you round these parts?”

 

“What do you think?”

 

Black Cat only smiled.

 

“You’ve gotta stop stealing this stuff, it’s wrong,” Peter lectured, only causing her smile to grow wider.

 

“What’s the fun in doing right? Where’s the thrill of getting caught? The thrill of the chase?”

 

“Trust me,” Peter scoffed. “I get chased plenty.”

 

“The difference is that I don’t get caught,” Cat replied, flipping backwards off her rope and landing gracefully in front of him.

 

“I’ve kinda caught you,” Peter pointed at her.

 

“You haven’t fired a single web,” She laughed and wiggled her fingers. “I feel pretty free.”

 

At that, Peter shot a web at her wrist, which she caught and tugged, causing him to fall forward into her. She used the momentum to fall backward, pulling him with her before she flipped the both of them, ending with her straddling his waist.

 

A claw from her other hand sliced the web far too easily for Peters taste. Peter huffed and looked up at her, knowing that he could easily push himself out from under her, but he didn’t want to.

 

She held down both his wrists, leaning her face in closer to his. Peter’s breath hitched as her hair tumbled onto his chest. His eyes never left her growing smile and twinkling eyes before she put her mouth next to his ear. “Now leave me alone, or I’ll slit your throat.”

 

He knew it was an empty threat (was it?) but it still made his heart race while his lungs collapsed simultaneously. Felicia sat back up and let go of his wrists, still staring down at him with a smirk.

 

Peter used all his mental strength to push himself up and into a position where he was the one straddling her. Felicia bit her lip, Peter couldn’t tell if it was serious or not. “I don’t know if I prefer our last position or this one better.”

 

“Shut up,” Peter sighed, rolling his eyes behind the mask. “You gotta stop doing this stuff, Cat.”

 

“We’ve moved onto pet names,” She purred, walking her fingers up his arm. “I like it.”

 

“I’m serious, the chief of the NYPD told me I had to bring you in, I don’t wanna have to do that so the only way around it is for you to stop. If I wanted to bring you in, I would’ve done that by now.”

 

It was times like these that Peter was grateful for the mask, Felicia would never be able to see the desperate, pleading look in his eyes. He licked his lips, watching her settle underneath him. She pursed her lips and sighed, “Fine, but let me pull this one last thing off, you owe me for saving your life.”

 

“Fine,” Peter sighed. “Last one. Promise me.”

 

“I, Black Cat, promise that after this last burglary I will never steal again,” She looked up at him, her eyes flickering up and down his body. “I’d say we should take this somewhere else but I have a job to do.”

 

Without another word, Peter stood up, offering her a hand that she didn’t take. She hummed as she smoothed out her hair before patting Peter’s shoulder and walking past. He was waiting for another flirtatious comment, but nothing ever came.

 

He turned around, only to find an empty room with a wall stripped bare, nothing but nails for art to hand left. Peter cursed under his breath, webbing himself back out through the shattered window from which he’d entered.


	6. Chapter 6

Guilt was a funny thing. 

  


Guilt wasn’t something Peter was a stranger too, he felt it a lot. A majority of the time, it was unnecessary. 

  


This time, he wasn’t so sure. 

  


He felt guilty for disappointing Tony, guilty for not turning Black Cat in, guilty for knowing too much about Felicia's life, guilty for not having spoken to May a lot recently, guilty for the sad look on Ned’s face every time Peter said he ‘was busy.’ 

  


And right now, the most prominent reason for his guilt was the cheerful blonde girl sitting in front of him talking animatedly about a fond memory from her high school years. His leg jumped up and down under the table so vigorously Peter was surprised their cups of coffee weren’t rattling. 

  


It wasn’t fair on her, it really wasn’t. Peter liked her, of course, he did, but was it genuine? He couldn’t help but think he only liked Gwen because she was so far different from her roommate and all he wanted, all he really really wanted, was to forget about her. 

  


He supposed that by replacing her with Gwen, she would be completely cancelled out. Like hills and ditches, a bit of Gwen would fill up the holes of Felicia until the ground was flat again and Peter could walk straight without falling.

  


“When we went to Washington for Academic Deca-” 

  


“You did AcaDec?” Peter asked, deciding it was time for him to engage in the  conversation. “That’s a stupid question, of course, you did, you’re crazy smart.” 

  


“Yeah, I was the team captain, we never won though,” She shrugged, seemingly still proud of their efforts. “We always lost to Midtown.” 

  


“That-that was my team,” Peter laughed slightly, scratching the back of his head. “I went to Midtown.”

  


Gwen furrowed her brows, her eyes glazing over as she sifted through her memories. After a couple of moments, her face lit up with realisation as she replayed a specific point in time in her head. “I remember you! You always answered the Physics questions before they even finished asking them. And you all had those really ugly blazers, no offence.” 

  


“None taken,” Peter laughed, agreeing with the fact that they were indeed ugly. “Liz was our captain, and MJ and Ned were on the team too.” 

  


“Oh my god,” Gwen put her face in her hands, blushing as she peered up at him through her fingers. “I can’t believe I never put that all together, it was so obvious! I’m so stupid.” 

  


“No, no, you’re not stupid,” He smiled. “We never really talk about high school anymore so it makes sense, don’t worry.” 

  


She nodded, taking her hands away and stirring her half-empty coffee cup. There was silence as they both took slow sips of their drinks, looking at each other but flitting away when they made eye contact. 

  


“Is it half empty or half full?” Peter asked, staring down at his drink. “The cup, I mean, half empty or half full.” 

  


“Half full,” Gwen stated without missing a beat. “You still have half a coffee to enjoy.” 

  


“Yeah,” Peter hummed. “But-- we’re currently emptying the cups so would it not be half empty? If we were filling them up I would say half full.” 

  


“You have a point, but still, we have half a cup to enjoy,” She brought the cup up to her lips and took a big gulp. “A quarter left to enjoy.”  

  


Peter smiled at her and watched as a gentle blush coated her cheeks that she attempted to hide with her hair. Her lips turned up in a small smile and avoided making eye contact with him, the guilt returned. 

  


He walked her back to her apartment an hour later, the had barely set but the street lights had turned on, dotting the deep blue sky with yellow. Their arms brushed together as they walked, Peter’s hand shoved deep into his pockets. 

  


“I had a really nice time,” Gwen said, turning to face Peter as they stood on the steps of her apartment building. “Maybe we could-- do it again?” 

  


“Yeah,” Peter smiled. “I’d really like that.”

  


Peter looked down at her, her foot scuffing on the concrete awkwardly as her hands wrung around each other. She was really was very pretty, and she reminded him or Liz with the way she carried herself. He felt like he was in high school again. 

  


Gwen peered up at him through her eyelashes as he stepped closer to her. With a tilt to his head, he took a deep breath and pressed his lips on hers. His hand cupped her jaw, his thumb stroking her cheek gently as she clenched his shirt in her fist. 

  


The kiss was short, it was nice. But that was all. There was no churning in his stomach and his heart didn’t leap into his throat like it did when he kissed Felicia. He didn’t have to fight any eagerness as he did with Felicia. 

  


The kiss was simple, he would do it again. Even so, it was nothing special. It was nothing like Felicia. 

  


He pushed her hair behind her ear, smiling at her before stepping away. “See you later.” 

  


Gwen nodded, her cheeks burning red before she walked into the building, glancing back at Peter with a bashful smile. Peter gave a small wave before heading down the street, back to his apartment. 

  


He’d just shoved his headphones in his ears, a small smile coating his face as she strolled down the block when he stumbled into someone. Peter stuttered out a sorry, raising his hands in an extension of his apology. 

  


However, his hands quickly dropped when Felicia smiled up at him. His jaw clenched and he reluctantly pulled out his headphones when Felicia made no sign of walking away. Her fingers pulled at the strap of her bag as Pete eyed her somewhat revealing outfit. 

  


“Felicia,” He acknowledged her. “Where are you going?”

  


“Wouldn’t you like to know,” She smiled, grabbing his hand and fiddling with his fingers. “I’d be willing to change my mind and go with you though.” 

  


“That’s unnecessary,” Peter cleared his throat. 

  


“Where’d you come from anyway,” She asked, trying not to let him see her face fall. 

  


“I walked Gwen home,” He shrugged. 

  


Felicia hummed, narrowing her eyes at him. She studied his features, her eyes landing on his lips that were stained red with Gwen’s smudged lipstick.  Nervously, his tongue shot out and licked his lips. 

  


“Well, are you gonna walk me home?” 

  


Peter tapped his foot, knowing the right answer was yes but wanting to say no while also wanting to say yes. With a small sigh as he looked up at the dimming sky, he nodded, knowing what kind of creeps roamed around New York. 

  


He knew well that Felicia could easily take care of herself in the less than one hundred foot walk back to her apartment. Still, she didn’t know he knew that, so he turned on the balls of his feet and walked to her apartment. 

  


She walked next to him, her body pressed in closer to his than Gwen was. Felicia was rambling on about a party she was planning on going to, about how all the frat guys were sleazy and gross but she only went for the free drinks. 

  


Peter tried his best to listen, but he couldn’t. Not when she smelt so enticing, like vanilla and smoke. Not when every brush of their arms made his skin tingle. Not when her teeth would ever so slightly poke over hip bottom lip every time she smiled. 

  


It took everything in him to restrain himself from burying his head her neck, to feel her warm skin and breathe her in deeper. It took everything in him not to grab her by the waist and push her up against the cold brick wall they were walking past. 

  


They finally reached her apartment building and Peter stopped at the bottom of the stairs while she walked up. Felicia stopped, looking behind her with a raised brow. Peter reluctantly caught up with her. 

  


She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, to which Peter pulled back as much as he could. He cast his eyes downwards as she got closer. Her nose bumped his cheek and Peter sucked in a breath. She laughed slightly, “Let yourself go, Peter.” 

  


He sighed, moving out of her arms. He pretended not to notice her lips curve downwards. “Felicia, I already told you I can’t do this anymore.” 

  


Felicia scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest while Peter shoved his into his pockets further. “You say that as if we actually had something.” 

  


“You trying to corner me twice now says different,” Peter laughed bitterly, watching as her face turned into a scowl. 

  


“If that’s how you feel,” She chuckled sorely. “See you around, Parker.” 

  


Felicia stalked into her apartment building, slamming the glass door behind her and making the glass pane wobble. Peter ran a hand through his hair and rand down the steps, wanting nothing more than to just forget about her. 

  


It was all he’d been trying to do for what felt like forever, forget her. It wasn’t as easy as it sounded and every day it drove him a little more insane. He couldn’t focus and it was affecting his entire life. She was messing with his head when she wasn’t even there, in class, when he was with Ned and Harry, even as Spider-Man, which he’d managed to detach from Peter Parker as much as he could. 

  


If it wasn’t for her, Peter would’ve easily taken down those ten guys the other day. He’d faced worse, deadlier, yet the fact he almost died (again) while taking down normal human beings made him feel like a piece of gum on the sidewalk. 

  


He slipped into an alleyway and got into his suit, stripping as quickly as possible as to avoid the biting cold of the evening air. Webbing his bag to the wall and taking note of its coordinates, he launched himself onto the roof of the building next to him. 

  


“Hey, Karen,” Peter sighed, looking out at the skyline. 

  


“Good evening, Peter. Before we go somewhere, Mr Stark has a message he told me to give to you when you put on your suit tonight.” 

  


“I don’t want to hear-” 

  


Too late, Tony’s voice rang through his ears, a distant sound to it. 

  


_ “The police want to talk to you. You should really let them give you a burner cell or something because it’s always me that catches the first-hand anger caused by you. Anyway, go give them a visit, they want to talk to you about your girlfriend. Yeah, that’s right, I know who this criminal you won’t turn in is. By the way, I saw a cat eat a spider once.”  _ _   
  
_

Peter picked up a lump of broken brick that was sitting on the ceiling, hurtling it as far as he could. He watched it fly and swore under his breath, praying it wouldn’t kill someone. His jaw clenched as he huffed, wanting nothing more than to call Tony and give him a piece of his mind. 

  


He went quiet, swinging his way to the top of the NYPD building. With one final flip, he landed on the roof and folded his arms over his chest. Peter could hear them talking about him inside the station before a bunch of feet came clomping up the stairwell and the door came flying open. 

  


Peter turned on his heels to see a not so happy Captain Stacy walking towards him. The fact that Gwen was in fact, the captain's daughter hit him like a truck. How he’d managed to forget that he would never know. 

  


“Spider-Man, it’s been a while,” The Captain cleared his throat, staring Peter down. 

  


“Yeah, it’s nice to see you again, sir.” Peter put his hand out for a shake, he didn’t get it. 

  


“Where is she?”

  


“She?” Peter laughed nervously. “Oh her, right, the cat, Black Cat, funny story, I can’t catch her.” 

  


“You can’t catch her or you won’t?” 

  


“I’m sorry?” Peter squeaked, his eyes widening. 

  


“Tony Stark doesn’t like us but when it came to you, he was more than happy to overshare,” Stacy mused, narrowing his eyes. 

  


Peter clenched his jaw, his pent up resentment for Tony growing larger by the second. 

  


“Bring her in, or we may just end up shooting her next time we see her,” There was a threatening gleam in his eye and Peter paled. He couldn’t tell if it was an empty threat or not but he didn’t want to take any chances. 

  


“You can do that,” Peter retorted, stepping closer to the captain. 

  


“If we think she poses a threat, yes we can. Judging by the two people she killed by slitting their calves open and letting them bleed out, we think she does, in fact, pose a threat. Wouldn’t you agree?” The captain tilted his head, patting Peter’s shoulder. “Of course you do,  __ Spider-Man , now go get her.” 

  


Peter shrugged the hand off his shoulder and fired a web across the street without another word. There was nothing he wanted to do more than piss Tony off, God, anything to piss Tony off. Yelling at him wouldn’t be enough. 

  


He made his rounds, being a little more aggressive than normal but hey, it was getting the job done. Peter was fighting in an almost blind rage, taking people down in seconds before webbing his way out of the situation. 

  


There was none of his usual quips or quirky comebacks, just narrowed eyes and annoyed grunts. 

  


He was perched on top of a lamp post when Karen’s voice chirped in his ear. “There’s been a break-in at the Grey Art Gallery.”

  


Peter sighed before swinging his way over. “You’d think she’d have more common sense than to try hit our own schools gallery.” 

  


“I did not think that, sorry, Peter.” 

  


“It’s okay, Karen,” He replied, Karen decidedly being the only person he would never get mad at. 

  


Police sirens were music to his ears as he flew from building to building, red making his way up from his toes to his head. He wanted to scream, call it cliche but he finally understood it. He’d never felt so angry in his life, not even when MJ purposely pushed the LEGO Death Star him and Ned had spent hours making off his shelf. 

  


He swung past the building slowly, spotting an open window on the third floor. Another sigh escaped his mouth, realising that he really was going to have to deal with her tonight. He crawled up the building, sliding himself through the window and landing in a crouch. 

  


“Spider!” She exclaimed, sarcastic joy coating her voice. “I was waiting for you.” 

  


“You promised me you wouldn’t do this again, Cat,” Peter sighed, exasperated. 

  


“I promised I wouldn’t steal,” She ran her tongue over her teeth, smiling at him. She walked towards him, her hips swaying seductively as she tilted her head. Her claw traced over a rather expensive looking sculpture and Peter winced at the noise. “I’m not stealing.” 

  


Peter flicked his wrist out and before he knew it, was holding up a piece of painstakingly carved marble. His eyes widened, realising that if it weren’t for him it would be in a million pieces on the ground. 

  


He rushed over to push it back onto its pedestal and before he could say anything to her, she was picking up a smaller one and throwing it at the wall. Peter shot another web, pulling it towards him and catching it in his hands. 

  


“What the fuck!” Peter growled, putting it back. “This isn’t any better, worse, even.” 

  


“I never believed what they said about how breaking things releases anger,” Felicia mused as she traced her finger along the jawline of another statue. “But I get it now.” 

  


This time she walked over to a painting on the wall and hesitated, her claw just pressing into the canvas ever so slightly. “Just kidding, I collect art, not destroy it. I just wanted you here.” 

  


Peter let out a breath of relief. Relaxing his posture as she moved to stand in front of him. She placed her hands on the fabric of his suit, taking in the classic spidey suit and all its glory. A smirked engulfed her face and she traced the lines of his torso, clearly defined by the skin-tight suit. 

  


“I knew you’d catch them,” Felicia nodded to the sculptures she’d pushed. “Now I’m letting you catch me.” 

  


Peter gulped as her claws retracted and she found the gap where his suit and mask met. He knew he should stop her, if he wouldn’t let it happen as Peter and Felicia, he shouldn’t now. But this was Spider and Cat, this had been a long time coming and to say he didn’t want it would be a lie. 

  


He missed her and the way she’d throw her head back and let her hair fall into her face. He missed pushing his head into her neck as their hips met with a steady rhythm. Peter couldn’t have her as Felicia, but this was Black Cat. 

  


As far as Felicia knew, neither of them knew anything about the other's identity. That was good enough for him.

  


Not to mention, he knew Tony looked through the suits footage, wouldn’t he love to watch this? 

  


Spider-Man and Peter Parker were different people, basically. Gwen didn’t exist in the world of Spider-Man, so what did it matter. 

  


As she pulled his mask up just above his mouth, Peter could’ve sworn he saw a flash of recognition, making him panic just the tiniest bit. Before he could worry any more, her thumb pulled at his bottom lip and she smiled. 

  


“I turned the camera’s off before I got here,” She whispered, Peter only nodding in return. Of course, she did. 

  


Finally, she kissed him. 

  


Peter held himself back for a couple of seconds, but fuck it, this was Felicia. Before either knew what was happening, Felicia was hoisted up around his waist, her legs locked around his back as they both moved in the general direction of any wall. 

  


The bumped into it harshly, both of them jolting with the impact but Felicia didn’t mind. One of her hands tangled in the small amount of revealed hair at the nape of his neck while the other pulled his face closer. 

Felicia sighed into his mouth, her back arching up and pressing her body into him more as he gripped her waist tightly. Their tongues met in a sloppy fashion, both of them trying their hardest to fall deeper into each other. 

  


Peter pulled away and pressed kisses up her neck, nipping and sucking her warm skin. Her head tilted, letting his lips roam unexplored areas. His hand ran down her front looking for some way to get into her suit. 

  


He was about to pull away to ask how the hell her suit worked but her hand was guiding him inside it before he could. Felicia captured his lips with her own again while he rubbed her stomach, slowly making his way lower. 

  


“I’ve been waiting far too long for this, Spider,” She whispered into his mouth, making him stop. “Is something wrong?” 

  


“Fuck,” Peter cursed under his breath and pulled his hand out of her suit. 

  


“Don’t leave me dangling by a web here,” She laughed, frustration lacing her tone. 

  


“We shouldn’t be doing this, Cat,” He stepped away, placing her feet on the ground. “You need to stop doing this, the police are on both of our cases and I’m tired of pretending like you’re not a criminal.” 

  


“Rejected twice in one night,” She scoffed. “This is a first and I hope I never have to experience it again.” 

  


“Is that seriously all you have to say right now?” Peter spat, pulling his mask down.

  


“Well yeah, I’m pretty annoyed about it,” Felicia grumbled as she put her suit back together. 

  


Peter shook his head, placing his hands on the back of his neck. If his hair wasn’t under his mask, he’d be running his hands through it right now. With a groan he looked back at Felicia, who was checking over her claws as if to look for chips in the polish. 

  


“Look, Spider,” She sighed, kicking herself off the wall. “I’m not like you. I’m not a hero. I’m a thief. Born a thief, raised a thief, will die a thief. Get used to it.” 

  


“You don’t have to keep doing this. If you need something, money, whatever, we can figure something out. Just please, stop,” Peter begged, his hands extended out to her. 

  


“In case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t stolen anything tonight and I wasn’t planning on it.”

  


It was true, as far as he knew she hadn’t taken anything and there was nothing in her hands. How she ever managed to steal works as large as she did would remain unknown to him and he almost didn’t want to know. 

  


“The police don’t care, you killed two guys, which does--” 

  


‘Wait,” Her eyes widened. “I killed two people?”  

  


“Yeah,” His voice softened. “They bled out from their calves being slit open, from the night I got shot.” 

  


Felicia looked at her claws, retracting them into her suit before folding her arms across her chest. Peter frowned, watching her eyes shut and hair fall into her face. “I never meant to kill anyone but they shot you, so.” 

  


“I know,” Peter clenched his jaw, ignoring the way her voice faded off as she attempted to defend herself.  “I know you’re a thief, not a murderer but as far as Captain Stacy is concerned, you’re both.” 

  


She cleared her throat, looking up at him before plastering her signature smirk on her face. Peter watched it falter slightly but she remained stoic. Felicia pushed the hair out of her face before launching herself onto the windowsill. “See you around, Spider,” 

  


He watched as her shoulders hunched with the movement of taking a deep breath before she fired her grappling out the window. Peter reached out for her just as she flew out the window, disappearing into the night. 

  


Cursing under his breath, he looked around the room, making sure nothing was out of place. Well, he's certainly managed to upset an exponential amount of people in a very short amount of time. No doubt Tony was going to have a shit fit when he saw the suit footage from the past twenty minutes. 

  


Peter had set out to piss off Tony tonight and he’d done it, so why did he feel even worse? The anger and frustration were growing larger inside him by the second, like a tree whose roots twisted around all his organs and threatened to burst out of his body. 

  


He’d pissed off Tony, kind of stabbed Gwen in the back, lied to Felicia for the past couple of weeks, not done his job and now upset Felicia with the news of her killing two people. This was a shitty romantic drama, throw in a sprinkle of a shitty action movie and you have Peter’s life right now. 

  


It was almost like he was on autopilot because before he knew it he was on the balcony outside May’s apartment. He could see her sitting at the dining table, her laptop open and a glass of wine sitting in front of her. She was scribbling furiously on paper, Peter figured she was going through some kind of finances. He felt bad, knowing that he was the one who used to do them because May got all the numbers jumbled in her head. 

  


His fingers tapped on the window pane and May nearly jumped out of her skin. She placed a hand over her heart when she saw it was just Peter before rushing over and letting him inside. Peter ripped his mask off, muttering a sorry before falling into her arms. 

  


“We have a front door, Peter,” She laughed slightly, rubbing back. 

  


“Sorry,” Peter sighed again, his heart clenching at the way she still talked about the apartment as if he still lived there too. 

  


“It’s okay,” May smiled. “What's up? Bad patrol?” 

  


Peter shrugged. Resting his head in the crook of her neck. “Something like that, just stressed. I missed you.” 

  


“I missed you too, Peter.” 

  


They spent the rest of the night on the couch together after Peter got changed into some clothes he’d left behind. It was weird being in his old, half-empty room. Of course, he was there every once and a while but tonight, it felt wrong.

  


The room reminded him of a time of innocence, of purity. It reminded him of the time he would always do the right thing, even if it hurt him. That was what Peter Parker did, that was what Spider-Man did. Peter had pushed that innocence off a cliff, he didn't deserve to be here right now. 

  


May would run her hands through Peter’s curls as he lay his head on her lap, the TV playing in the background. Peter felt fourteen again. He was back to the time when it was not long after Ben's death when Flash and his followers would taunt him throughout the day. He'd just gotten his powers and still had no idea how they worked, so he wasn't about to potentially send Flash flying across the school gym just because he was angry. 

  


He'd come home after school, always with a solemn expression and May would swoop the boy into his arms. No matter how much pain she was going through, Peter was always first. She'd scratch her nails against his scalp and whisper gentle Italian phrases to him. 

  


As May continued her old routine, frustration seeped out of him with every exhale. He knew it would come back at some point, but for now, he was okay. That was all he really needed. Even so, it was funny how even all these years later he still missed Ben's presence in the leather armchair to his left. Neither he or May had the heart to throw it away. 

  


It sat as a constant reminder and as much as it hurt, they both needed it there. 

  


The anger would come and go but the guilt had burrowed into his bones, and that weight was never going to go away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it was put in my head that mcu may speaks italian and peter can also speak some, sue me


	7. Chapter 7

Peter slammed her back into the wall, but she hissed in pain.  _ She _ wouldn’t do that. He mumbled a sorry against her lips, asking if she was okay, she hummed in response. His hands gripped her hips, snaking lower, she grabbed them and moved them back upwards.  _ She _ wouldn’t do that. 

 

Her body was impossibly far from his, he wanted her closer, but he didn’t. Peter tried to explore her mouth further, but she pulled away slightly, keeping it on the surface.  _ She _ wouldn’t do that. Her hand glided over his arm, too gently, no nails.  _ She _ wouldn’t do that. 

 

He unbuttoned her blouse, trying his best to do it quickly. She made him slow down as to not rip it.  _ She _ would let him send the buttons flying across the room.  _ She _ would never wear a blouse in the first place. He took his own shirt off, he couldn’t make eye contact when they parted. He distracted himself by slamming his lips back onto hers. She kissed him like her entire universe was between his lips. 

 

He kissed her like sex.

 

She wanted him, he wanted  _ her _ . 

 

He asked her if she was okay again, she laughed slightly and replied with a yes. 

 

She took him to her bedroom, lying down on the comforter and looking up at him like he was about to  _ give _ her the entire universe. He pretended she was her. Peter lifted her back up effortlessly and took off her bra, letting it fall to the ground with a soft thud only he would’ve heard. 

 

A gentle blush dusted the porcelain skin of her neck.  _ She _ would’ve smiled widely, not crossed her arms over her chest. He looked at her with a gentle expression asking if she was okay, again, without even opening his mouth, she trusted him. She slowly lowered her arms. 

 

Peter told her she was beautiful, his hand gripping her jean-clad thigh as he dipped his head to pepper small kisses on her chest. She quivered pleasantly underneath him, a shaky breath echoing around the quiet room.  _ She _ would’ve pushed his head down further. 

 

His other hand ran up her arm before he cupped her jaw. She leaned into it, one of her hands covering his, her other one tangled in his hair gently. She tasted sweet underneath his lips, her peach and cinnamon scent getting to his head, making him feel dizzy. Dizzy in a good way. 

 

He thumbed her lip before kissing her again. Gentler this time, most of the pent up frustration was gone. He was no longer attempting to project it through him and into her. Now he just wanted to make her feel good. Her hand ran down his stomach, moving up and down with the definition of each muscle. 

 

It landed on his belt, fumbling awkwardly before she pulled away from the kiss to see what she was doing.  _ She _ would’ve got it off with two fingers and two shut eyes. Peter sat up and undid it himself. She mumbled an apology, avoiding his eyes. He kissed her and told her it was ok, it didn’t matter. 

 

He kissed her neck, a hand on the side of her head pulling her impossibly closer. He heard her swallow, her hand dipping inside his jeans and pausing when she hit the band of his boxers. His teeth grazed her skin, she gasped. 

 

“Peter,” She all but whispered. 

 

He hummed in response, kissing her earlobe, her hand inside his boxers. 

 

“I’m a virgin.” She withdrew her hand, brushing against him as she did so. Before he could register what she said, he registered the small but sensitive wave of pleasure. 

 

“Fee-,” Peter hissed breathlessly. 

 

The air went stiff. Peter stopped, pulling away from her neck, feeling like he didn’t deserve to be there anymore. Gwen turned her head away from him, sucking in her cheek. His face was almost as pale as her sheets as he rolled off her slowly, sitting on the edge of her bed with his back facing her. 

 

“Oh God,” He whispered, pressing his palms into his eyes. 

 

The bed shifted next to him as she grabbed a hoodie from the ground next to her, tugging it hastily over her head. He heard a sniff, an almost but not quite crying yet sniff. His heart clenched, his brain seized. For someone who was apparently some kind of boy-genius, he was a  _ fucking idiot _ . 

 

“Gwen-” 

 

“It’s okay,” Her voice faltered, her legs swinging around until she was sitting next to him. “I knew it, so it’s my own fault.” 

 

“No, it’s not,” Peter retorted, not even entirely sure what she meant. 

 

“I knew you were still- you  _ are _ still thinking about her,” Gwen fiddled with her fingers in her lap. “I ignored it though, take what I can get, you know?” 

 

“You shouldn’t think like that,” He looked at her, his face falling at her sentiment. “You shouldn’t- fuck, Gwen. I’m so sorry.” 

 

“I knew you kind of liked me, I knew you liked her more but she’s Felicia. Felicia doesn’t do anything but sex so I don’t blame you for trying to- move on,” She sighed, looking at him with a tight smile. “I know you’d never intentionally hurt me or anyone, for that matter. Even so, I knew I was going to end up hurt and I let it happen because I had nothing to lose. Except for my virginity, but I’ve been trying to get rid of that for ages.” 

 

They both laughed slightly, Peter rubbing his hands together as he rested on his knees. His head fell between his shoulders, hair falling to his face as he stared at a strand of carpet. He heard her suck in a breath before picking at a loose thread on the sheets. 

 

“You deserve better than being someone's rebound, especially when that person is rebounding from your roommate but doesn’t even know if it counts because all they’ve done is sleep together a couple of times.” 

 

“Well, I can’t say it wasn’t fun watching her face whenever I said I was going to hang out with you. Every time I came back she’d be wearing your shirt from that party you guys met at, rubbing it in my face like it was some kind of trophy. Like-- because she had you first she was better than me,” Her eyebrows furrowed and she spoke. “And maybe she is better than me because here we are.” 

 

“You can’t compare yourself to her. Felicia is-is--” 

 

“Smart? Beautiful? Sexy? Outgoing? Confident? Insane, in every definition of the word, that is,” Gwen interrupted him, saying everything that he did, in fact, think about her, but not what he was going to say. “The exact opposite of me.”

 

“You two are exact opposites, but you’re all those things you just said too, just in a different way. I thought you would-” Peter sighed, hating how he thought about her as an object. “I thought you would make me forget about her because you’re everything she’s not. I do like you Gwen but fuck, she’s driving me insane and I needed something to help me. I’m sorry that something was you.” 

 

“I don’t regret it,” She shrugged. “We still had fun together and I hope we can still be friends Peter because I really do enjoy your company. Plus, this whole situation was kind of fucking funny.” 

 

“Kinda,” Peter laughed with her. “And of course we can still be friends Gwen, who else is going to make me study so much I run out of things to study?” 

 

“Hey, we did other things too,” She pushed his shoulder playfully, silence enveloping them afterwards for a few beats. “Talk to her Peter, she’s obsessed with you, she’s just not good at,  _ real _ feelings.” 

 

“I feel too much,” Peter grumbled. 

 

“It’s better than feeling nothing at all. Pain is human, Peter, let yourself feel it.” 

 

He looked away from her, she stood up and off the bed, opening and shutting a few drawers before a hoodie landed in Peter’s lap. Looking down at the soft grey material, he realised it was the NYU jumper he’d let her borrow the other week when she left his apartment once the evening chill had set in. 

 

Mumbling a small thanks, he pulled it over his head. He sighed as he did up his belt, a reminder of what had just taken place and making his cheeks heat up in embarrassment. Gwen hummed, pulling her hair into a ponytail. 

 

Peter could feel the sadness, he’d felt that sadness before when Tony took the suit off him so many years ago now. Except hers felt worse, probably because she knew it was coming beforehand but that didn’t mean she wanted it. 

 

He’d given her something only to rip it away, just when she thought she had it, had him. Peter would never forgive himself for it. 

 

“Gwen?” 

 

She gave him a sad smile, pretending it was a happy one. 

 

“Don’t settle for less. We accept the love we think we deserve and I’m sorry you feel you deserve so little, you deserve so much more.” 

 

“Peter,” She laughed slightly. “You think low of yourself, even if you’re in love with someone else, you’re still the nicest guy I’ve literally ever met. If anything, no one deserves  _ you _ .”

 

Peter rubbed his hands together before standing up, swiping his phone up from the ground. His screen was lit up with multiple messages. He’d been ignoring a lot of people recently, diving head first into Gwen and studying. 

 

After his small mental break down at May’s place, he’d stayed there until Monday rolled around and he swung to school in the morning. He’d been living on autopilot, everything was blurry. Classes were murmurs, people were drones, the only thing he could focus on was Gwen (and MJ, but that’s because she jabbed his sides every time he zoned out on her.) 

 

Tony had been texting him far too much. Depending on the time of day, the messages were a jumble of emotions. They ranged from ‘I’m sorry’ to ‘We need to talk’ to ‘Turn that fucking stray cat in already’ to ‘Stealth suit is ready for pick up.’ 

 

Peter hadn’t picked it up yet. 

 

He sighed, running a hand over his face before shoving his phone in his pocket. He glanced at Gwen again, who was now fiddling with one of the perfumes on top of her dresser.  The room was suddenly sickly sweet and Peter grimaced.

 

“Uh, see you later, Gwen.” 

 

“Bye Peter,” She said quietly. “Whatever’s going on, I hope you figure it out.” 

 

Peter licked his lips, deciding against replying before he left her room, letting out a sigh of relief when he could finally breathe again. 

 

________________________________

 

“You moaned another girls name?! That's fucking  _ gold _ , Parker.”  

 

“Dude,” Peter groaned, throwing his head back into the couch as Harry and Ned laughed far too hard for Peter’s taste. “It’s not funny, I feel terrible.”

 

“It’s pretty funny,” Ned agreed, failing at holding back his laughter. 

 

“My life is a fucking shit show,” Peter whined, tugging his hair and squeezing his eyes shut. 

 

“Can you tell the world you’re Spider-Man and then get a reality show, I’ll produce it,” Harry gasped, convinced his idea was revolutionary, Ned agreeing. Peter watched in bewilderment as the two of them started planning out the opening sequence, starring themselves. 

 

He groaned again, louder this time and covered his face with his arms. Guilt was burying him further into the couch, Peter pulled one leg up to his chest, resting his forehead on it and sighing. 

 

Peter’s reality show officially held the title, Even Spider-Man Fucks Up and Ned was drawing the poster art on an old receipt from the liquor store down the road. He was about to remind them that they probably weren’t allowed to swear in the title but he decided against, too tired and wallowing in self-pity to argue. 

 

Rolling his eyes, he ignored the boys making a mockery of his life (as if he didn’t do it to himself)  and stared out their apartment window. The night had well and truly set in, he felt bad for not being out there and patrolling, who knew what kind of atrocities could be taking place in any given alleyway. 

 

It wasn’t an excuse but the rain was beating down on the glass pane so violently that he could see it warp with each drop. However, Peter was probably the only one of the three that could see the pane bouncing. His suit kept him warm and dry but even so, patrolling in the rain wasn’t fun because all his eyes liked to focus on was the speeding raindrops and the terrible symphony they made as they fell on trashcans. 

 

Guilt, who was now a familiar friend to Peter, woke from their slumber and began eating away at him, starting at his heart before slowly making its way through his entire body, taking whole chunks as it went. He sighed, chewing on his bottom lip before standing up from the couch. 

 

“I gotta go out,” He grumbled, interrupting Harry and Ned’s business plan. 

 

“Out?” Ned furrowed his brows before sighing in realisation. “Oh,  _ out _ .” 

 

Peter hummed, stretching his arms up above his head and groaning, listening to his back crack. He cringed at the noise, shaking himself out before patting his friends on the head and going to his room. 

 

His suit lay in a lump in the middle of his floor, probably not the best idea considering his roommates had people far too often for his taste. It wasn’t like Peter was actually ever there, Spider-Man was a great illusion of social life to strangers. 

 

He was just about to launch himself out of his window when his name was being called from the living room. With a sigh, he climbed down from the window sill and came to his door frame. “Ned, dude, can it wait? I’m going out-out.” 

 

“To do what? Pretend to not find Black Cat? Don’t worry about that anymore, we’ve got her.” 

 

Peter’s face paled at the authoritative voice that boomed around his apartment, even though it was at a reasonable volume. He stumbled into the main room and frowned after receiving the visual confirmation that Tony Stark, was, in fact, standing in his shitty apartment, glancing around the rundown place. 

 

Peter pushed aside the anger he got from Tony’s slightly judgmental expression, the billionaire's hands tugging at the collar of his designer suit. “What do you mean, we’ve got her?” 

 

“I know who she is, Parker, I arrested her and took her to the station. Her dad isn’t happy,” His eyebrows quirked up and Peter dragged Tony into his bedroom before slamming the door shut. “Clean up a bit in here, kid. You’ll have plenty of time now.”

 

_ Felicia’s dad is dead.  _

 

“Who the fuck did you arrest?” Peter hissed, glad he was finally taller than his less than average height mentor. He’d had a growth spurt at the end of his senior year, his height finally catching up with his muscle size.

 

“Look, I know she’s your girlfriend or whatever, but you wouldn’t do it, so I did.” Tony took a step back, unpleasantly surprised by Peter’s willingness to get in his face. 

 

“Who,” Peter spat, his teeth gritted. “Did you arrest?” 

 

“Who else? Gwen Stacy,” Tony replied, furrowing his brows. He knew Peter would be upset, but he didn’t know he would be this apoplectic. 

 

Peter tugged at his hair and paced around his room, shaking his head and cursing. “Gwen Stacy wouldn’t steal a packet of fucking gum from the corner store, let alone commit a casual grand theft every night!” 

 

“You don’t have to protect her anymore, Peter, we have her, there’s nothing you can do,” Tony sighed, putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder. 

 

He moved out of his grip violently, clenching his jaw and looking Tony directly in the eyes. Peter huffed before tugging his mask on. “For a genius, you’re fucking stupid. She’s not Black Cat, now meet me at the station so we- no, I, can fix this. You’ve done enough.” 

 

Without another word, he launched himself out the window, letting himself freefall before firing a web at a corner of a building. Peter was going as fast as he possibly could, the speed almost scaring him and he’d been doing this for years. 

 

Peter bypassed the roof, opting for the main entrance and bursting through the doors. There were a couple of squeals from people inside the station and everyone's eyes were on him. He walked straight up to the front desk, demanding to see Captain Stacy. The officer behind the desk pointed a shaky finger to a hall on the left. 

 

He gave a quick thanks, rushing down the hall and calling out Gwen’s name. People moved out of his way, giving him blasé looks. This was the New York Police Sation, after all. He could hear her voice whimpering out some kind of self-defence and Peter only panicked more. 

 

They may not be dating anymore, that's if they even were in the first place. They may not be, whatever they were, anymore but that didn’t mean Peter didn’t care about her. He followed the sound of her voice, skidding to a halt outside of the holding cell she was in. Her dad stood outside the bars with an almost unreadable expression on her face. 

 

“Gwen-” 

 

“Spider-Man, so this is why you didn’t want to tell me? Because she was my own daughter?” The Captain asked with accusatory tones and an unnerving pitch. 

 

Peter shooked his head, pointing at Gwen. “That’s not her, she’s not Black Cat, God, no.” 

 

Gwen furrowed her brows and Peter’s heart sunk at her puffy eyes and red cheeks. She was handcuffed behind and her legs in shackles too. Peter felt terrible, he’d let this happen. He’d let Tony think that Gwen was a top tier criminal, a thief  _ and _ a murderer. 

 

Her father looked between the two of them, Gwen was shaking her head, croaking out that was didn’t even know what a ‘Black Cat’ was. Her wrists tugged at the handcuffs and Peter lept forward, grabbing her hands. 

 

Gwen faltered, stepping away and tugging her hands away from him. Peter forgot that he was in his suit, that Gwen had no idea who he was. The Captain pulled Peter away, glaring at him. He opened his mouth, looking like he was about to shout something at Peter before he stepped back, staring at something behind him. 

 

“Alright, Spidey,” Tony remarked, his voice tense. “Explain.” 

 

“I know why you think she’s Cat, Tony, but she’s not, she’s not.” 

 

“Is this not your girlfriend?” 

 

“Girlfriend?” Gwen squeaked, her eyes as wild as her dads were angry. 

 

Peter held his breath, caught between just trying to hash things out vaguely and owing everyone a proper explanation. He looked between Tony, Gwen and the Captain before pulling off his mask and looking at Gwen, pleading her to not be mad at him. 

 

Gwen's jaw dropped as another tear rolled down her cheek. The Captain had a flash of recognition and Tony put his head in his hands, at this point, Peter may as well announce his identity to the whole world. 

 

“Peter?” Gwen whispered before steam all but came out of her ears. “What the fuck?!”

 

“Peter? Peter Parker?” Her dad growled. “As in-” 

 

“Yes, him, dad,” Gwen spat, still glaring at Peter. “Now can you explain how the fuck I’ve ended up in handcuffs?!” 

 

Peter bit down on the side of his cheek, twisting his mask around in his hands. He knew everything was going to come full circle eventually, that didn’t mean he was ready for it. The question of if he revealed Felicia’s identity or not hung over his head, like his own personal rain cloud. 

 

“I-I-shit,” He hissed, looking at the ground before looking up at Tony, who had taken off his glasses for once. Peter’s heart fell into his stomach, as much as he was pissed off with Tony, he hated knowing he’d let people down. “I’ve known who she is for a while but I couldn’t turn in because I was attached and I know I shouldn’t be because she’s a criminal and Tony knew I liked her so I assume after Tony stalked me for a while,” Peter stated, making eye contact with the older man who shifted on his feet and cleared his throat. “He thought it was Gwen because we-we were whatever we were.” 

 

“Then who is it?” Gwen’s dad growled. 

 

“I can’t tell you that,” Peter mumbled, looking at Gwen who had a tense jaw and pensive expression. She knew. He made a silent plea with her to not say anything. Gwen stayed silent. “I can’t turn her in.”  

 

“Kid, she’s a murderer. A thief and a murderer, she deserves to be behind bars,” Tony replied, the frown on his face deepening. 

 

Peter felt anger course through his veins before pointing at Tony and scowling. “She’s not a murder. She didn’t mean to kill them, she only did it because I got shot.” 

 

“And so she could still hundreds of thousands of dollars, which you benefited off, too.” 

 

“Well, no,” Peter laughed sourly. “Because you took it off me, God knows where it is now.” 

 

Tony’s brows furrowed with distaste as he looked up at Peter. He stepped closer into Peter, about to say something when the Captain interrupted. “Air your daddy issues another time, who is she?” 

 

“A good person,” Peter replied. 

 

“A good fuck more like,” Tony mumbled. 

 

“I can change her, I know I can,” Peter was almost shouting. “She could help me! Help us, she could be valuable, she doesn’t deserve to be thrown in a cell for the rest of her life!” 

 

“If you can  _ change _ her, why is she still going?” The Captain glowered, his hand coming to rest of the handle of his gun. 

 

“She hasn’t stolen anything in ages, I told her not too,” Peter defended her, his throat closing up. 

 

“Who’s to say she won’t do it again?” 

 

Peter clenched his jaw, gulping before looking back at Gwen. They’d made an unspoke agreement and Peter would forever be in debt to her. If the roles were reversed, it was likely that Felicia would throw Gwen under the bus in a heartbeat. 

 

Not to mention, all the heartache Peter and Felicia, mainly Peter, had probably put her through today. Peter and Gwen were similar in the fact that they both wore their heart on their sleeve and acting accordingly too. They both knew the right thing to do would be to turn her in, but was it really the  _ right _ thing to do? 

 

Everyone knew Felicia was an enigma, but she was harmless. As much as the front she put on would say otherwise, Felicia was still a human, one that was barely entering adulthood. They all made rash decisions, ones that everyone around them would disagree with, but it was what their instincts told them to do. 

 

“You’ve made it personal now, Parker,” He spoke, his voice lower than Peter ever thought possible. “You got my daughter dragged into this mess.” He never broke eye contact with Peter as he pulled out his radio. “I want the Cat behind bars  _ now _ , dead or alive.” 

 

Peter paled, looking at the Captain and Tony, who looked shocked but clearly wasn’t going to argue. Gwen’s breath hitched and her eyes widened, she tugged at the handcuffs, grabbing at the bars of the holding cell. 

 

“Dad-” 

 

“No, Gwen, it’s what has to be done,” His voice was final, he’d made his mind. He turned back to Peter. “And stay away from my daughter.” 

 

Peter felt like he couldn’t breathe, his lungs deflated balloons. He threaded his mask through his hands faster and faster as the Captain let Gwen out of all her restraints. He looked at Tony, begging for him to do something, anything. 

 

He was sixteen again, on Titan as his body ripped to pieces while trying to glue itself back together. He couldn’t form any words, anxiety rising through his bones, increasing with intensity with every inch it climbed. 

 

Gwen was talking to her dad but for someone who could hear the hum of the air conditioning like it was a race-car, Peter couldn’t hear what anyone was saying. He hoped, prayed, that Felicia had gone out to a party tonight, that she hadn’t gone out in her suit in an attempt to lure him anywhere. 

 

Tony was conflicted, he was witnessing the silent break down of Peter while knowing that this was the morally, and according to the law, correct thing to do. But there came a point where family was more important than any law. If she was really this important to Peter, he supposed he could let a few things slide. 

 

“With all due respect Captain,” Peter stuttered, stepping forward, laughing nervously. “Those two men were killed out of defence and they were criminals anyway, your men probably would’ve shot them if they shot you, wouldn’t they? You can’t do this.” 

 

“I can and I will,” He retorted before turning to Gwen. “Someone will take you home.” 

 

“Dad, you can’t seriously want to kill Fe- who-whoever this Black Cat is,” Gwen laughed almost as nervously as Peter, glancing at him sideways. 

 

“Go home, now,” He said finally, walking away from the whole scenario, hand wrapped tightly around his gun. 

 

Peter cursed a million times under his breath as he ran a hand through his hair before looking up at Gwen with apologetic eyes. “I’m so sorry I got you dragged into this mess, really, I-” 

 

“It’s okay, Peter,” She gave him a small smile before looking at Tony, her expression turning spiteful almost immediately. “It wasn’t you, anyway. If you need anything, let me know.” 

 

She walked away, rubbing her wrists. Peter watched her leave, knowing that she really meant anything. He really would never forgive himself for upsetting her. All he could ask was that she got home safely and quickly so she could tell him if Felicia was there or not, he didn’t have to ask to know she would. 

 

“Kid-” Tony sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

 

“No, Tony,” Peter flinched away from the touch. “I don’t want to hear it right now, I have to go make sure she’s not  _ dead _ .” 

 

Tony stayed quiet, folding his arms across his chest and glancing away from Peter. For the first time, the roles were reversed. Peter would be lying if he said he didn’t love it. For so long, he was convinced that Tony could do no wrong. Finally, he realised that no one was all they were cracked up to be. 

 

He tugged his mask back on, wishing he was wearing the Iron Spider before running out of the station and into the night. At least Tony would have the decency to wipe the footage where Peter’s face could be seen. 

 

Launching himself into the air, he followed the sound of sirens as they wailed into the night sky.

 

Potential funeral bells. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so it's really moving now. poor gwen, poor you for enduring my sub-par writing. comments/theories/suggestions/kudos are always appreciated. also this fic is doing so much better than i ever expected so thanks???
> 
> twitter: @/rueshewitt


	8. Chapter 8

One last time. 

 

Just one. 

 

Even if she was completely wrong in her assumptions, she was still willing to give it all up. Not to mention, the increasing number of ‘authorities’ on her ass. 

 

First, it was just the police, then Spider-Man, then Iron Man and now she was pretty sure the FBI was about to open an investigation on her. At least that’s what she’d heard through the grapevine. 

 

So, one last time it was. 

 

It was far too easy to scale the building and the boring, mechanical job of climbing up it began. 

 

Just like any time she let her mind wander, it strayed to him. Him, who she’d once assumed to be an open book but every interaction it was like another layer was put up. One would assume that as you get to know another, walls fall down. Peter was the opposite of that. 

 

She couldn’t wrap her damn mind around him and the next thing she knew, Spider-Man’s body against hers felt far too familiar.

 

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. The phone call from Tony Stark made sense, Peter was smart, but why would he be calling Peter of all people that late at night. What would he have said that meant Peter had to leave? Infiltrating a drug deal she supposed. 

 

Then he was suspiciously ‘sick’ the day after Spider-Man was shot. 

 

And she killed those two guys. 

 

Felicia never meant to kill, just injure. But hey, they shot… him, so honestly, she felt less bad about it as the days went by. 

 

That scared her. 

 

The fact that she felt indifferent to the accidental murders when Spider-Mans identity became clearer scared the shit out of her. 

 

Felicia didn’t-  _ she told herself she didn’t _ \- feel. 

 

It was a practice she’d mastered when her dad was thrown in jail and her mother had become ever so slightly less put together. By less put together, she meant her mother became a haze of alcohol and valium. 

 

So when she’d asked him to stay one night instead of leaving like he always did, she got scared. 

 

When she studied his face in the blue moonlight streaming in from a gap in her curtains and realised she wanted him to stay every night, she got scared. 

 

Because him staying every night meant she couldn’t break into art galleries for little to no reason anymore and she didn’t care. She’d go so far as to say she wanted that. And she started to feel herself fall into him and she let it happen. 

 

Felica let herself feel something for the first time in a very, very, long time. 

 

For almost a decade of her life, she told herself that it was  _ all _ water off a duck’s back. Nothing mattered and nothing  _ meant _ nothing. 

 

But nothing can come of nothing. 

 

And Peter, Peter was something. Something that drove her up the damn wall, literally. 

 

For once she didn’t hate it, she craved it. 

 

Some would say she had an addictive personality. Felicia would disagree, there was a difference between hobbies and addictions. 

 

She had a hobby of stealing art, a hobby of partying, a hobby of sometimes drinking a little bit too much and taking random pills from good looking strangers. The line was barely visible but it was there and she had always been awfully careful as to not step a toe over it. 

 

Peter pushed her past that line and she’d let herself stumble and fall. He’d knocked the wind out of her with one look and breathlessness was a feeling she tended to enjoy. 

 

However, when the wind was knocked out of her from another body slamming into hers on the rooftop of the Agora Gallery she couldn’t say she enjoyed it this time.

 

Before she knew it, there was an arm wrapped tightly around her as they swung through the air. She let herself process for a couple of seconds before wrapping her arms around their neck. There was no question of who had swooped down and snatched her up because who else would it possibly be? 

 

Felicia laughed, tracing his jaw with a claw, his eyes refusing to meet hers as they swung through the city. She felt his breathing hitch and his jaw clench tighter than she knew it already was. 

 

“Taking me for a ride, Spider?” She smiled leaning her head against the side of his, whispering into his ear. Felicia obviously knew that he’d be able to hear her whisper from a block over, but this was nice.  

 

They landed on top of an apartment building she knew belonged to Peter. His arm immediately recoiled from her, almost as if he was going to get sick if he made contact with her for a second longer. He turned away from her, raising his arm up in an action that would have him running his hands through his hair if he wasn’t wearing a mask. 

 

“You told me you were done, I thought you were done,” His voice shook with repressed hurt. 

 

“Who said I was going to take anything? Maybe I just wanted to look at art, like every other person?” She shrugged, running her claws against each other. 

 

“Then go at the same time as every other person, during opening hours,” Spider grumbled. 

 

“I prefer private exhibitions,” She smiled and stepped closer to him again, placing her hands on his biceps. 

 

He pushed her hand off. “The police-” 

 

“Want me dead, I know, but we both know that will never happen.” 

 

“It could,” He retorted. 

 

“Have you no faith in me,” She pouted, tilting her head as she looked up at him. 

 

The bubble got bigger and bigger, encasing them in an inescapable trap until it finally burst, the event only pulling them in closer. 

 

“No, I just care about you, Felicia,” He growled. 

 

Both parties halted, Felicia eying him up and down, unsure how to feel. She couldn’t read Peter either, considering he was covered head to toe and his posture frozen. She tried her best to remain as reticent as she always was but found herself slipping and she couldn’t let that happen. 

 

“How’d you know my name,  _ Peter _ ?” She tried to make it sound flirtatious but the spiteful tone was as clear as day. 

 

There was silence. 

 

But nothing can come of nothing. 

 

“I’m- My-” He stuttered the beginning stages of denial but he knew she was far too smart for any kind of half-assed excuse. “How did you know?” 

 

Felicia scoffed. “‘Hey Mr Stark, yeah let this girl finish giving me a blow job so I can leave and get shot and then tell everyone I’m sick for the next few days but still have a small limp when I come back and hope no one notices.’” She mocked his voice with a sultry tone, smirking at the way she knew his expression was falling underneath the mask. Peter raised his hand to reply, but she shot him a glare and stepped towards him. “No, I’m not finished. You think I wouldn’t notice webbing attached to my gym bag that was not there when I entered my apartment, where you and Gwen attempted to fuck each other through matrices?” 

 

“That wasn’t my best idea.” 

 

“Now, how did you know it was me?” 

 

“I was- they wanted me to find out who you were and turn you in and then, well, simple math. They gave me a whole file on Black-Cat and well, yeah, it just made sense.” 

 

“What was in the file?” 

 

“Just- basic stuff,” Peter’s voice trembled. 

 

“You know about my dad, that’s why you- that’s why you told me your sob story?” 

 

He shrugged before tugging his mask off and twisting it around in his gloved hands. Peter was looking at her with those damn doe eyes, his tongue flicking out and wetting his lips. 

 

Felicia resisted the urge to fold her arms over her chest and hide behind her hair. Instead, she clenched her jaw and took another step forward her hands shaking as she cupped his face, the claws digging into his skin just enough to be endearing. 

 

A part of her wanted to dig her claws in more, draw blood. She was angry, upset. Peter knew so much more about her than she did about him and for how long? Did he know before they even met? 

 

Felicia felt betrayed, hurt. Peter had lied to her but did she even have a right to be upset? It wasn’t like she didn’t lie to him at all. 

 

She wanted to ask him, yell at him but she couldn’t. So she shoved it to the back of her head and locked it in a safe labelled ‘feelings’ just the same as she always did. 

 

“Besides,” She whispered, thumbing his lip. “How could I forget a mouth like this?”

 

Her lips brushed over his and he hissed, wanting to pull away but not. “Fee, you have to-” 

 

“Why don’t we just disappear into your apartment and you can fuck me like you used to?” 

 

“Felicia,” His teeth gritted and he pulled out of her grasp. “We can’t ignore this, the fucking FBI is about to be on your ass.” 

 

“Oh come on,” She laughed. “You know I don’t put out for just anybody so I wish them luck.” 

 

Peter’s face was turning red and he looked ready to explode but instead, his body was on top of hers and they were on the ground just a split second before the sound of a bullet came whizzing through the air. 

 

He cursed under his breath in a language that wasn’t English before tugging his mask back on. She’d be making him do that again as soon as possible. 

 

Felicia watched as he whipped his head around, looking for the possible source before settling his gaze on a sniper stationed a few buildings down. He muttered to himself, having a legitimate conversation with himself. Who knew Peter had voices inside his head? Perhaps it was just a few too many hours spent with Wade taking a toll on him.  

 

“Spider-Man, return to the ground with Black Cat immediately, you’re under arrest for Obstruction of Justice. Black Cat, you’re under arrest for Grand Theft, 2nd-degree Murder, and too many counts of Trespassing and Burglary for me to list.” 

 

“Aw, you lied for me, Peter?” She smiled, running a hand down his arm. 

 

“Of course I did,” He grumbled and got off her. “How bulletproof is your suit?” 

 

“Torso, back and joints. Yours?” 

 

“None.” 

 

Her eyes widened, she would’ve thought he’d learnt his lesson but she supposed he had been swinging around in this red and blue suit for almost as long as he’d been on the scene.

 

Peter grabbed her by the hand and pulled her up before immediately jumping off the building, Felicia wrapped her arms around his neck and legs around his waist before they were jolted to the left. 

 

“If you get shot I don’t know what’d I do with myself,” Peter muttered as a few more gunshots went off, ignoring her gaze once again. 

 

“Right back at you,” Felicia gulped. “Where are you taking me, Spider?” 

 

“As much as Stark and I are having our differences right now, he’d never turn me in.”  

 

“How do you know that?” 

 

“Turning to dust in front of the other while on another planet forms a pretty good bond.” 

 

They landed on the balcony of a room pretty high up the building, Peter let go of Felicia and ran a finger along a metal frame. The door opened automatically for him and he let Felicia go in first. The lights flickered on and Peter winced at the sudden brightness. “Karen, lights at 30, please.” 

 

“Certainly, Peter, do you need me to activate the Sensory Overload Protocol?” 

 

“No, no, that’s fine.” He sighed with relief and tugged off his mask, rubbing his temples before tugging at his hair. 

 

“Who’s the lady in your ceiling?” Felicia quirked a brow. 

 

“Karen, she’s an AI, she’s in my suit too,” Peter finally looked over at her, the both of them finally getting a good look at each other in the, albeit, dim light. 

 

“I thought you were just going crazy, also, you speak another language?” She asked, a suggestive tone to her voice. 

 

Peter walked over and took her mask off, placing it on a dressing table next to them. He pursed his lips, his eyes raking up and down her body. Felicia arched her back as a force of habit. 

 

“I’m not super fluent, but my Aunt is Italian, depending on the day she speaks to me in it and gets annoyed if I don’t respond in broken Italian. Tony speaks it too, so...” 

 

“Sexy,” She smiled and Peter rolled his eyes before grabbing clothes out of the drawer and shoving it into her chest. 

 

He grabbed a bundle of his own before pressing the Spider emblem on his chest, Felicia tried to hide her impression as it triggered the suit to sag off his body. Peter stepped out of it and tugged his clothes on sloppily, not caring and ignoring Felicia’s never-ceasing lust. 

 

“We’re gonna be here a while so, get comfy,” Peter sighed before gesturing to the clothes in her hand and the king-sized bed with impossible crisp looking white sheets. 

 

Peter left the room, leaving Felicia to her own devices and rather than getting changed, she ambled around the room, taking in the juxtaposition of the room. It hung in a weird balance of modern, hotel-like and a teenage boy’s bedroom. It was clear Peter didn’t spend all that much time here, at least, not anymore. 

 

There was one framed photo on his dresser. A younger, shorter, slightly lankier Peter stood next to a younger Tony Stark. They both wore dorkily similar smiles, holding an upside-down certificate with Peter’s name on it. 

 

Felicia picked up the photo and couldn’t help but smile. Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen Peter so- carefree. Or at least, she’d never seen him smile anything like that. 

 

She’d seen forced smiles, flirtatious smiles, after-sex smiles, but again, nothing like that. 

 

As of recent especially, Peter had felt so stoic, stressed and just downright  _ sad _ . Part of the reason Felicia was never serious with him was that he was so serious and Felicia wanted him to have fun. She supposed being Spider-Man as well as a third-year engineering student would take a large toll on anyone.  

 

She got changed into the clothes Peter had given her, the pants barely staying up on her hips even as she pulled the drawstring as tight as it could possibly go. The short-sleeved shirt went past her elbows, sliding off one of her shoulders. 

 

Peter finally came back into the room as she was studying another framed photo of a much younger Peter, sandwiched between a man and woman who were looking down at Peter adoringly, wide-smiles stretched over all three of their faces. They were all dressed formally, she assumed they must’ve been at a wedding or something of the sort from the bustling, fancy looking background. 

 

It can’t have been his parents, Felicia remembered that much. So it must’ve been his aunt and uncle who was well, dead. She bit the inside of her cheek, putting the photo down. 

 

“That’s May and Ben at May’s sister's wedding,” He said quietly, coming to stand next to her. “I was eleven and I remember watching her sister get married and thinking that they didn’t look at each other in the same way Ben and May did. They got a divorce four years later.” 

 

“They look like they loved you a lot,” She laughed, looking back at his aunt and uncles expressions. 

 

“Yeah, I felt it, I feel it.” 

 

“Tony looks at you the same,” Felicia nodded towards the other photo of Peter and his mentor. 

 

“He’s not even looking at me in that photo.” 

 

“No,” She shrugged. “But I know he does.” 

 

Peter studied the photo of him and Tony before turning away from it, taking in a sharp breath. He extended his arm, which was holding a bottle of water. Felicia took it, giving him a small smile as a silent thanks before taking a sip. 

 

“There’s leftover Thai food in the fridge if you want some?” Peter broke the silence, twiddling his thumbs as he glanced at her.

 

Felicia shrugged, smiling bigger. “Why not?” 

 

He smiled back, walking out of the room and leading her into the kitchen. Peter watched her face as she entered the living area of Stark’s penthouse. It was a reasonable reaction, the wide eyes and the squeaked ‘holy shit.’ It wasn’t every day you made yourself at home in an unnecessarily futuristic and obviously million dollar building. 

 

Felicia sat down at the bar and watched as Peter got out the leftovers before putting them straight into the microwave. She sipped on her water, finishing it at an almost alarmingly fast rate. 

 

Peters phone started buzzing insistently next to her, but he made no move to pick it up. She raised a brow at him, but let it ring out, only to see the notification of fourteen missed calls from Tony Stark. 

 

“Don’t you think your sugar daddy should know you’re in his castle?” Felicia hummed, amused. 

 

“Oh,” Peter scoffed and shook his head. “He knows.” 

 

She quirked a brow at the anger fueled sarcasm and fiendish smile. “Why so upset? Stark didn’t get you a puppy?” 

 

“More like Stark forgets I’m not fifteen anymore and I can make decisions for myself without him breathing down my fucking neck because God forbid anyone be as intelligent as  _ the _ Tony Stark,” Peter’s voice raised and he grabbed cutlery out of the draw. “Oh yeah, don’t forget the part where he acts all high and mighty and morally correct, did he forget he used to manufacture weapons that killed thousands of people and he didn’t give a fuck until suddenly it actually affected him? Or the bit, I love this bit, the bit where he forgets that hey, this superhero shit means I can’t have a steady job for more than a month and I’m not exactly fucking paid for this bullshit hence, I owe over two thousand dollars to various different people because I can’t afford to fucking feed myself let alone keep my water running! So yeah, Tony, maybe I did actually want that hundred thousand dollars because unlike him, I’m not a fucking billionaire!” 

 

Peter was yelling at this point as he took the food out of the microwave, slamming that appliance shut with such force, the door caved in on itself. Felicia flinched in her seat, her frown etching onto her face as she watched him lean onto the counter, his fists gripping the countertop, no doubt leaving a dent as his shoulders sagged. 

 

She felt bad for edging him to this point, but there was no doubt that this rant was a long time coming, she just happened to be there. 

 

Peter clenched his jaw and took a deep breath, pushing the food towards her and muttering a small sorry. 

 

“Well, why don’t you tell me how you really feel, Mr Parker.” 

 

Felicia’s eyes widened and her palms got a little sweatier as they both looked at the said billionaire crossing the room towards them. 

 

Peter immediately walked around the kitchen island, standing in front of Felicia, creating a barrier between her and Tony Stark. She watched as his shoulders squared and fists clenched. Peter glared at his mentor, venom dripping from his usually lamblike eyes. 

 

“Calm down, Spidey, there’s no police or anyone here, just me,” He peered over the top of his glasses, his eyes flitting between Felicia and Peter. “Sorry about your girlfriend, or perhaps, your other girlfriend, by the way. My bad.” 

 

Felicia furrowed her brows, looking up at Peter who stepped further in between her and Tony. 

 

“She was never my girlfriend, but is she ok?” 

 

“She’s fine, an officer took her back to her apartment,” Tony’s eyes landed on Felicia again, an unreadable expression glazing over. “Where she should be too.” 

 

“Wait,” Felicia interrupted the boxing match. “Gwen? What happened to Gwen?” 

 

“Tony thought she was you,” Peter grumbled. “He arrested her.” 

 

Felicia hid her shock, rubbing her thumbs and forefingers together, a habit she’d adopted to replace facial expressions. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, looking at the floor. As much as she disliked Gwen, she shouldn’t have been accused of Felicia’s crimes. 

 

“Forgive me, Peter, I’m just having trouble keeping up with all the partners as of recent. You’re going through them faster than I went through suits.”

 

“You’re one to talk,” Peter barked out a harsh laugh. 

“I told you, I want you to be better than me.” 

 

“How am I supposed to do that when you’re the one dictating everything I do?” 

 

Tony stayed silent for a few moments, never breaking eye contact with the younger boy. “I’m trying to help you, you know that.” 

 

“Look how well that’s turned for you, us, for us.”

 

Felicia got up and stood next to Peter, brushing her arm against his. She felt him exhale, tension seeping from his pores. She cleared her throat, looking between the two stubborn males. The testosterone levels were so high she felt as if there needed to be a lifeguard on stand by to pull her out. 

 

“Listen,  _ Tony _ ,” Felicia smiled sweetly. “Everyones had a very stressful night so why don’t we all just go to bed and you two can discuss all this in the morning.” 

 

“Yes, very stressful, no thanks to you,  _ Felicia _ ,” Tony’s nose twitched and he gave an equally as sweet smile back. “Also very bold of you to assume you’ll be staying here tonight.” 

 

“She’s staying here tonight,” Peter butt in, his voice authoritative and final. Tony blanched at the Tony, taking a step back. 

 

“It’s a good thing your walls are sound-proof,  Howardson,” Felicia purred before grabbing Peter’s hand and beginning to walk back to his room. Peter followed her, forcefully tearing his eyes away from the older man. 

 

“You know,” Tony said just as they rounded the corner. “The only reason they didn’t arrest you, Peter, was because you’re the only way they could keep her in one place long enough for them to shoot.” 

 

Felicia shut the door behind them both and Peter stared at the blank wall, his eyes wide and breathing shallow. His fists clenched and unclenched over and over, his teeth grinding together. 

 

She watched him for a couple of seconds before tentatively reaching out to touch his hand but before she could, his own had shot out and grabbed her wrist, the other grabbing her neck. He wasn’t choking her, but to say it didn’t scare her would be a lie.

 

“I didn’t know you were into choking,” She laughed nervously. He let go of her neck. 

 

“I can hear his heartbeat,” He whispered. “And yours, and mine, and Peppers and Happy’s and Morgan’s and the police sirens across the city.” 

 

Felicia frowned again. “Peter, are ok?” 

 

“Please don’t talk,” He placed his hands over his ears and walked over to the corner of the room before sitting down, his head between his knees. “It’s like- your voice sounds like psychedelics.” 

 

“Peter-” 

 

“Activating ‘Over-Stimulation Protocol’” Karen’s robotic voice said, at least half her normal volume. 

 

The lights turned off and curtains lowered over all the windows. If the already silent room could get any quieter, it did. Felicia could only just see Peter’s shaking form in the corner and hear him counting his forced breathes. 

 

Shuffling over, she sat down next to him, leaving a gap big enough to give him space but small enough for him to know she was there. His shoulders rose and fell with a large breath before he looked over at her. 

 

“Sorry I just-” Peter croaked, shuffling over and putting the side of his head to her chest. “Just yours.” 

 

Felicia furrowed her brows until she realised that he was honing in on her heartbeat. She fluttered, certain he could hear it going a million miles an hour. Hesitantly, she raised her hand and tangled it in his hair. There was a sharp intake of breath at the initial contact before she started playing with his hair gently and his entire body relaxed. 

 

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed in the room that had transformed into some kind of sensory deprivation tank but eventually, Peter’s composure felt normal again. He sat up, taking his head away from her chest and her hand unwillingly fell from his hair into her lap. He sat still with their sides pressed together. 

 

“Sometimes my senses go haywire, it usually only happens when I’m in a party-type environment and I’m already stressed. But I was just- so- so mad,” Peter whispered, turning to look at Felicia. “I’ve never felt so  _ angry _ .”

 

“It’s okay, Peter,” She gave him a small smile as the lights came on, so dim they may as well be off. “You don’t have to apologise for being human.” 

 

“Do you ever feel like that?” 

 

Felicia turned pallid at the question. No one ever asked her how she felt. No one ever cared, so why would she say or show how she was feeling? The only one who ever paid attention to her was her damn cat but that was only when he wanted something. 

“Sometimes,” Felicia whispered, her voice so small she barely heard it but he did. She didn’t wear her heart on her sleeve as Peter did but what good would’ve come of lying to him? What good would’ve come from her saying no? After all, nothing can come of nothing. 

 

Peter nodded, grabbing her hand and intertwining their fingers before he turned to look at her, their noses brushing. 

 

Felicia sighed, leaning her forehead against his. 

 

They basked in each other, any thought of the current manhunt for Felicia fleeing their minds. They knew that she, that they were both safe here for the time being. 

 

“I missed you,” She whispered, chewing on the inside of her cheek at the confession. 

 

“I missed you too,” Peter breathed before finally pressing their lips together. 

 

He stole her breath before giving it back, the only noise in the silent room was the thudding of their hearts and shuddered breathes. Felicia leaned into the calloused palm that caressed her jaw and she couldn’t pry her eyes open even if she tried. 

 

They’d never kissed like this before. Usually, they were heated and in-the-moment, both of them trying their best to tell the other to get their clothes off without using words. Their kisses were hot and heavy, breathtaking in a different way. 

 

She liked this kiss, this slow kiss that didn’t need to be anything more, that they didn’t want to be anything more. 

 

Peter parted her lips with his own, diving into her like he wanted to pull her soul out. He did just that and she let him. 

 

Felicia couldn’t name a time where she’d let someone take anything from her but maybe, she realised, giving yourself over wasn’t a bad thing. 

 

Peter pulled her in closer, one arm grabbing her by the waist as he loomed over her, pressing her back head into the wall. His hand was still rubbing circles into her cheek and she held his wrist, returning the soothing action to his own skin. 

 

They finally parted, their hot breath mingling with each other. Felicia swallowed, looking up at him with swollen lips. 

 

Peter looked back at her, rolling his bottom lip between his teeth before plunging back into her, kissing more like they were used to but even then it was different. It was  _ more _ . 

 

The kiss was more personal, more intimate, more intoxicating,  _ more _ . 

 

Felicia decided that kissing Peter would never be the same again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it has been almost a month and I am so sorry. sorry if this chapter feels weird it was just such a long break that i got out of the flow of this story if you get what i mean. im feeling iffy about the pace/flow of this chapter so let me know if its like okay or not? also it's my last year of high school so im just trying to focus on getting into uni and increasingly more 'adult' problems. i wish i could go back to the time my problems consisted of if mum was going to get us home in time to watch glee after football practice or not. simpler times. also yes, i have been writing a critical report on king lear thanks for asking and now you understand why i'm suddenly obsessed with the quote 'nothing can come of nothing' 
> 
> edmund never redeemed himself and cordelia isn't all that great of a person, thank you, good day. 
> 
> twitter: @/rueshewitt


	9. Chapter 9

Waking up had never felt so warm. 

 

Maybe it was from the open curtains and wide windows next to the bed, or maybe it was the air conditioning that was definitely on. Maybe it was just Peter’s arm wrapped securely around her waist and her head tucked into his neck. 

 

Maybe it was because they were both still fully clothed, not that they weren't taking them off each other the night before but Peter was still so sensitive that when she reached under his shirt and touched his torso he hissed in pain. 

 

But she woke up and everything was warm, her eyes landed on Peter as she sat up in bed and smiled at the sight of his parted lips and eyelashes brushing his cheeks. She reached a hand out to brush his hair out of his face but decided against it, getting out of the bed and starting to slip her suit back on. 

 

She’d just tied her hair up into a ponytail when there was a sharp intake of breath behind her. “You can’t leave in that suit, you could get caught.” 

 

Felicia sighed quietly and turned around. “Not with the swinging escort I was going to get.” 

 

“Don’t lie to me and try to tell me you weren’t going to slip out the window while I was still sleeping.” 

 

Felicia didn’t reply. 

 

“I can drive you home later or Tony can get someone to,” Felicia ignored the hurt in his voice and the unspoken recognition that Felicia was trying to get away from him. 

 

“I was hoping to at least get some breakfast before I was kicked to the curb,” Felicia tried to joke, sarcasm dripping off her tongue, but her smile quickly fell when all Peter did was stare blankly at her before getting out of the bed himself. 

 

He left the room, leaving Felicia behind to wallow in the silence. Running her hands over the torso of her suit, she undid it and stepped out of it before only putting on the shirt Peter gave her the night before. 

 

“Karen?” She asked, feeling stupid as she spoke to no one.

“Good morning, Ms Hardy, how can I help you?” 

 

“Uh,” She stuttered, shocked that the AI knew who she was, let alone replied. “What’s Peter doing?” 

 

“It appears Peter is in the kitchen, he is currently making coffee, would you like a visual?” 

 

“No, no, that’s okay, thank you.” 

 

She gulped as the AI gave a generic response before leaving the room, following the route she remembered from last night to the kitchen. Rounding the corner, the container of Pad Thai from last night now stone cold on the counter. 

 

Peter had his back to her before he turned around and offered her a mug, she muttered a thanks before taking a sip. 

 

“You can’t-” He sighed. “Felicia you can’t keep doing this, you could  _ die _ .” 

 

“Good thing I’ve got all nine lives still left,” Felicia laughed to herself, peering at him over the rim of her mug. 

 

Peter clenched his jaw, shaking his head before pulling one of the draws open so hard the handle came off. “Not even the right draw.” 

 

Felicia tapped on the side of the porcelain mug before turning and walking over to one of the expansive windows. She looked down at the city below and almost laughed at how calm it looked. More than half the city probably had no idea that she even existed, yet to some people she was the bain of their life, including Peters. 

 

“It’s not fair, you know,” Peter said as he walked up next to her. “Me putting my ass on the line for you, just because you want to fuck around in an art gallery at night. The Captain knows who I am now, I can’t go anywhere as Peter Parker because I’ll be arrested.” 

 

“I didn’t make you do anything,” Felicia replied, looking at him. “You could’ve just turned me in, this is your own fault.” 

 

“Would you have turned me in?” Peter mused, knowing the answer but not wanting it. 

 

“To save myself? Without question.” 

 

She ignored the pain radiating off him in waves as he looked away from her. She pretended she didn’t want to immediately take the statement back. He licked his lips before scoffing. 

 

“You’re such a b-” Peter stopped himself, taking a deep breath before laughing bitterly. “Self-serving, you’re so self-serving, it’s not even funny.” 

 

“That’s not what you said when I rode you.” 

 

“Can you be serious for two seconds? Is that so much to ask? Why is everything a game to you?” Peter was starting to wave his hands around more, the coffee sloshing in the mug. Felicia didn’t reply but he wasn’t done just yet. “I’ve been put myself in shitty positions because of you and yeah, maybe I care too much sometimes but holy shit I’d rather be this than be as heartless as you are. I know you care about me, you’re just too  _ scared _ to admit it to yourself. Caring about others isn’t supposed to be confronting.”

 

“Fine,” Felicia snapped, looking at him. “Maybe I do care about you and yeah, maybe I am scared because showing that you care about- about anything makes you  _ vulnerable _ and that’s when you get  _ hurt _ .” 

 

“You’re allowed to hurt, God knows I get hurt every day.” 

 

“Look how well that turned out for you,” Felicia scoffed. “You’re fighting with Tony, you got Gwen arrested and you broke her heart, even Ned has been asking _me_ if you’re okay because you don’t talk to him, and as far as I can see MJ is the only person who you haven’t upset and that’s because MJ doesn’t give a fuck.” 

 

Peter went silent, looking down at her with a cold glaze over his eyes. He turned away from her and walked back to then kitchen. The sound of running water was heard as he began washing the single dish of his coffee mug. 

 

He scrubbed at the cup furiously and Felicia was sure he was just scraping off layers of the cup by this point. Peter moved onto wiping down the benches that didn’t need wiping and even went so far as to clean out the microwave. 

 

Felicia watched with furrowed brows, sipping her coffee slowly. 

 

The slow sound of elevator doors opening made them both turn to look at the opening, Peter visibly stiffened, if that was even possible with how tense he already was. A young girl with long black hair came bouncing out of the box, running up to Peter and wrapping her arms around his waist. 

 

“FRIDAY said you were cleaning so Dad told me to come check on you,” She smiled up at him with a toothy grin. 

 

Peter bent down and picked her up, her arms wrapping around his neck and he smiled small back at her. “I’m okay, but how are you Miss Mojo?” 

 

His voice was quiet and caring like he was holding the whole world in his hands and he probably felt like he was. 

 

“I’m good, I won the science fair this week!” 

 

“No way!” Peter gasped, “I’ve never won a science fair before!” 

 

“Yes you have,” She laughed. “Dad showed me what you did for the science fair when you were older than me so I did that but better.” 

 

Peter shrugged, accepting defeat and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. The girl began rambling about the project she did and Peter seemed to understand every word she was saying. Felicia couldn’t and she wasn’t sure if it was because she talked about a million miles an hour, or if the scientific jargon was just too much for her to understand. 

 

“Petey, who’s the pretty blonde girl sitting over there?” 

 

A ten-year-old said she was pretty, that was a win in her book. 

 

“Oh, uh, that’s Felicia, she’s- a friend. Felicia this is Morgan, Tony’s daughter.” 

 

Felicia smiled at her, standing up before realising she wasn’t wearing any pants. Morgan giggled and Felicia sat back down, her face scrunching up and turning red.  

 

“If she’s your friend then Mom and Dad are friends too,” Morgan supplied, grinning at Peter who went to say something back but he knew that once she’d made her mind up, not that she was exactly wrong, there was no changing it. She was the daughter of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts after all. 

 

“Well,” Peter cleared his throat. “Have you had breakfast?” 

 

“No,” She laughed. “But Dad is ordering those waffles I really like because I won the science fair, he said there’ll be enough to feed a village but maybe not enough to feed Peter.” 

 

“Yeah, yeah, I eat a lot,” Peter rolled his eyes. 

 

Felicia didn’t like kids all that much, they were loud, insensitive, obsessive and just plain annoying. Felicia liked cats, cats were quiet and didn’t always require massive amounts of attention, in fact there always came a point where the cat would bat at you and tell you to fuck off. Dogs and kids didn’t do that, they required too much time and effort. 

 

There was something about Morgan that she liked and it probably stemmed from her father, even though Felicia had a severe distaste for Tony Stark. 

 

She watched as Peter and Morgan interacted, the gleam in his eyes telling her that he would die to protect her. She knew that Peter had dusted along with everyone else and she could only assume that Morgan was born during the five years they were all gone. 

 

Felicia didn’t like talking about the blip. 

 

When Morgan was successfully distracted by Peter, she slipped away and back into the bedroom where she pulled on a pair of sweatpants from the night before. She tried to make herself look as presentable as possible before she went back into the main room, where Tony and Pepper had appeared holding boxes she assumed to be full of waffles. 

 

The air was a lot tenser than when she left but Peter was faking a smile for Morgan as if he hadn’t yelled at her father the night before. 

 

She took a seat next to Peter at the table and thanked him when he handed her a plate. Ignoring Tony’s eyes burning into her, she started eating after introducing herself to Pepper awkwardly. Morgan’s rambling turning into white noise and she focused on Peter’s leg pressed up against hers. 

 

Peter made conversation with Pepper and Morgan. Tony and Felicia began to have a silent boxing match from across the table. 

 

Eventually, once all the plates were cleared, Tony sent Morgan off with Pepper, giving both his girls adoring smiles before turning to Peter and Felicia, his expression immediately falling. 

 

“Listen,” He said, his voice authoritative as he leant back in the seat, his nose twitching before he went on. “Peter, you’re going to get arrested pretty much the second you leave here, so stay as long as you can. Felicia, they still don’t know who you are so as long as you stop being a  _ criminal _ , you’re fine.” Tony said, sarcasm dripping from his tongue like honey off a spoon. “I don’t like this shit show you’ve dragged Peter into, he’s too  _ good _ for this. As far as I’m concerned you’ve done nothing but fuck his life up but we both know Peter won’t stop protecting you so do us all a favour and knock it off.” 

 

“Peter’s actions have nothing to do with me and if the one time he’s not around is the time I get caught, then so be it, that’s on me. But I don’t get caught, so it’s fine. Are we done here?” Felicia narrowed her eyes and tilted her head, eyeing up the billionaire. 

 

“The fact you fail to hold yourself accountable for anything absolutely floors me. I don’t care if you like it or not, your actions affect others and for you to flat out deny that? It just shows how little you care about anyone but yourself and I can’t even begin to fathom what Peter sees in you because somehow, you’ve got him convinced you’re a good person.  _ Let him go _ , dollar store Catwoman.” 

 

“Tony-” Peter snapped but Felicia cut him off with the raising of her hand. 

 

“You’re right,” She shrugged. “Peter is good in every sense of the word and I’m not but I never claimed to be. I don’t get what he sees but that’s not my fault.” 

 

“It is your fault,” Tony’s voice was getting louder to match the volume of Felicia’s. “Peter isn’t going to stop until you do or worse, he dies and once that happens, who’s fault is it then? Hm?” He leant forward, placing his clasped hands on the table and looking at the blonde over his glasses. “Still not yours?”

 

“I’m right here,” Peter growled. “Stop talking about me as if I’m a project.” 

 

They both suddenly seemed to remember he was in the room as they whipped their heads around to look at him. His eyes were dark and his jaw clenched, an expression Felicia had become familiar with over the past day and she didn’t like it.

 

Tony sighed before sitting back in his seat, rubbing a hand over his face. “You know, I wish you’d go back to fucking with alien tech because it’s a lot less stressful than this. You’re going to get arrested but I can guarantee you that I can get you out of there just as quickly as you’re thrown behind bars. Don’t worry about it, just cooperate with them and I’ll sort everything out.” 

 

Peter nodded solemnly, his eyes flickering to Felicia’s before looking back at Tony. Felicia glanced between the two men, between the deteriorating father and son relationship. However, when you tear a muscle it comes back stronger, Felicia could only hope this was the same case. 

 

“You two are welcome to stay here as long as you want, I can get Happy to take you home when you’re ready. Just- just tell Karen or FRIDAY when you want to go,” Tony sighed, standing up and putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder as he walked past and to the elevator.  

 

Peter closed his eyes and sighed, like with the slap on his shoulder came the weight of the world. He pressed his palms into his eyes and groaned, his face scrunching in pain, or was it anger? Probably both. 

 

Felicia pulled at her fingers, the silence between them getting louder by the second. “Do you want to come to my apartment?” 

 

“What?” Peter sighed, his brows furrowed tightly. 

 

“Well, it’s one of the last places they’d look for you, isn’t it? And we can get your friend Ned to drop off a bag of clothes or something,” Felicia shrugged. “I mean, you don’t have to. Just if- if you want to.” 

 

“Thanks for the offer but I think I should just get this whole being arrested thing over and done with. Plus, I don’t want to get Gwen anymore involved than she already has been.” He gave her a tight-lipped smile before getting up from the table and going to his room. 

 

Felicia was left with nothing but her own thoughts and the lady who lived in the ceiling. 

 

“Hey, ceiling lady?” 

 

“My name is FRIDAY, but you can call me ceiling lady if you want, Ms Hardy.” 

 

“Can you tell Peter that I can help him hide, I’m good at it.” 

 

“Will do,” Then there was silence. “Mr Parker has replied that he is not like you.” 

 

Peter came back out of the room, his sweat pants having been exchanged for jeans and his shirt changed. He sighed as he shoved his hands in his pockets, looking at Felicia before looking at the ground. 

 

Felicia bit the inside of her cheek, hesitating before walking up to him until their chests were all but touching. She looked up at him, tilting her chin up. Peter clenched his jaw before exhaling as their noses bumped together. 

 

He swallowed, moving in to press his lips against hers eagerly but Felicia swerved. She turned her head to the side, letting his lips land on the corner of her mouth. A small smile etched onto her face and she cupped his jaw, moving his face until their lips were in line again. 

 

“Easy tiger,” She whispered, their lips brushing with every syllable she formed. 

 

Peter bit back a groan, waiting for her to pull him towards her instead. She paused, enjoying toying with Peter entirely too much. Looking up at his wilted eyelashes, she smiled before finally kissing him. 

 

He sighed into her mouth, grabbing her waist and pulling her closer. The nail of her index finger pressed into his cheek, tracing back and forth lightly. Felicia was enjoying his heightened senses far too much as she scratched down his neck, taking his gasp as an opportunity to dive in deeper. 

 

Crude noises filled the air of the empty penthouse, the sound of their lips locking driving both of them crazy. 

  
  


They both knew it couldn’t go any further, not with Morgan or Tony around. They’ll pretend like that was the only reason, both preferring to live in a sort of ignorant bliss. Ignoring the swirling storm in the pit of both of their stomachs, they broke apart. 

 

Peter understood it now. He couldn’t get drunk or high due to his metabolism but not even that could get rid of the haze that was Felicia. She was impossible. Impossible to be around let alone be with and for all the right reasons yet wrong reasons at the same time. 

 

Peter had never been high but he felt so damn high and if this is what others felt like, he understood it now. 

 

Squeezing his eyes shut, he ripped his face out of her grasp and head for the elevator. 

 

“There’s a car waiting for me, if you need a ride home you can come with.” 

 

Felicia nodded, rushing back to the bedroom to grab her suit that had been discarded hastily on the floor. She bundled it up into her arms and met Peter back at the elevator. The doors opened and he let her walk in first before pressing a button presumably for the garage. 

 

They stood on opposite sides of the small box, Peter trying his best to stay out of her pull. 

 

Happy was waiting for them down the bottom, holding open the back door of a flash car. Peter let Felicia in first once again, sliding into the seat next to her once she was settled. He sighed, pressing his palms to his eyes. 

 

Felicia watched him before grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers. Peter looked at her but she stayed staring at the back of the headrest in front of her. He didn’t pull his hand away and neither did she, they didn’t want to.  

 

Strangely, even though he didn’t even know Felicia’s favourite colour (he assumed it was black) his relationship with her was the most intimate one he’d ever had. 

 

When he was with MJ, it was nice but it was like all high school relationships. It could only reach a certain level of intimacy but there’s always a layer of superficiality to it. He loved MJ, he still did but the way he felt about Felicia was different. 

 

His and MJ’s relationship was- cute- to say the least. Michelle hated that word but May had always said it was the best way to describe it. Their relationship was important to both of them still and they were just as important to each other still. 

 

With Felicia, it was different. He wasn’t even sure how to begin describing it but the danger of feeling like he would die for her spoke volumes. She drove him crazy in every sense of the word and it wasn’t healthy. 

 

But she wouldn’t die for him, would she? 

 

They stopped outside of her apartment building first. She looked at Peter before looking up at her building. Reluctantly, she removed her hand from his and opened the door. 

 

“Swing by when you get out of prison,” She smiled brazenly before making her way into her apartment building. 

 

Peter rolled his eyes, blushing slightly at Happy’s knowing smirk and telling him to just drive to the damn station. 

 

He texted May, letting her know he was about to be arrested but to not worry about it. May didn’t take it too well. 

 

He texted Ned, telling him that he was about to be thrown in jail and that it felt kind of cool. Ned thought it was awesome. 

 

Michelle told him he was an idiot and she felt much safer knowing he was behind bars. 

 

“See you on the flip side, Happy,” Peter smiled, stepping out of the car as he pulled over outside the station, giving the driver a small salute before getting out. 

 

Once on the sidewalk, he took a deep breath. He trusted that Tony was going to get him out before he even had the chance to drop the soap but still, turning himself in wasn’t exactly his idea of fun. 

 

Peter thought about Felicia and how she would act in this situation. So, he stuck his chin in the air and puffed his chest out, striding as confidently as he could into the station. Felicia wouldn’t care, she’d think of it as some glorious game. 

 

Lucky for him, Captain Stacy was behind the front desk already. He made eye contact with Peter and immediately stopped his conversation with whatever officer he was talking too. A tight-lipped smile formed and Peter didn’t know if it was out of pity or spite. 

 

For all he knew, the Captain despised him for what he’d done to Gwen, whether Peter had meant to or not. 

 

Peter put his arms behind his back in an act of compliance, never breaking eye contact. The Captain walked up to Peter and slapped a hand on his shoulder. 

 

“I admire you, kid. I really do,” His fingers dug into Peter’s skin. “I’m not going to put you in cuffs because I don’t feel the need too but you’re under arrest.” 

 

Peter bit his tongue as the Captain launched into the typical police spiel,  _ you have the right to remain silent  _ and blah blah blah. It was the use of the word kid that really ticked Peter off. That was a term Peter reserved specifically for Tony, only Tony. 

 

Even through the heated tones that he’d had earfuls of due to recent events, the word still held up. Tony said it with every ounce of paternal instincts he held, which was surprisingly, quite a lot. He said it in the way that meant: _ I will protect you even if it kills me. _

 

When Captain Stacy said it, his (kinda) ex-girlfriends dad, it was demeaning. He called Peter a kid in an attempt to assert his dominance, to make Peter feel inferior. The Captain knew he was in a rather high position of authority over Peter and he wanted to make sure Peter knew it. 

 

He stayed silent, even as the Captain told him how he oh so regretful he had to do this. Peter couldn’t help but think it was all a load of shit. This was a waiting game and they both knew it, waiting for Tony to come to pick the boy up and as he was shoved into a holding cell (quite roughly but no, it was an accident.) 

 

Peter sighed, rolling his head into the cold concrete wall and closing his eyes. The bench was uncomfortable and the clearly underage girl on the other side of the cell couldn’t even hold her own head up. A drunk teenager was probably the best cellmate he could’ve asked for. 

 

For the first time in weeks, he just wanted Tony. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> took me forever to update again sorry about it actually not really. this chapter was weird to write idk why maybe because it just feels different to the others idk lmk what u thought ok ok see ya 
> 
> twitter: rueshewitt


	10. Chapter 10

**** Peter had been in a prison cell before but that was long ago and under completely different circumstances. Last time was stressful, slightly scary but at least he’d gotten a cool shirt out of it, one that he still wore to this day. After he’d managed to get rid of the memories - whether or not they were fake - it’d become one of his favourite shirts. 

 

It’s not like he had a terrible experience this time around, Tony had bailed him out not half an hour later, pushing Peter into the most inconspicuous car he owned, which wasn’t all that inconspicuous. Captain Stacy clearly wasn’t all that pleased but this was Iron Man. They’d always told him he was never outside the law but in all honesty, if he wanted to be, he was. 

 

The car ride was awkward to say the least, Peter pulling his knee up to his chest and resting his foot on the expensive leather. Tony eyed it with irritation but said nothing. 

 

“Hungry, kid?” 

 

There it was, Tony’s ever dogmatic tone. Although, there was another layer to it that he only ever used with Peter and then Morgan when she was finally old enough to speak for herself and have opposing thoughts. It attentive, gentle, something Peter hadn’t heard in his voice for weeks. 

 

Peter shrugged, fiddling with his fingers. Tony didn’t respond, driving down a few side streets and parking outside a quiet-looking diner. As quiet as somewhere in New York could be. He got out of the car, not waiting for Peter before walking in. 

 

Sighing, he got out of the car and sat down at the booth Tony had chosen. 

 

He’d taken off his sunglasses to read the beat-up menu, peering over it at Peter before calling a waitress over. He ordered for both of them, getting Peter three plates of waffles and one for himself. 

 

“You know how I always say I want you to be better than me? How you are better than me?” Tony asked, clasping his hands together on the table. Peter didn’t respond. “You’re a big man now, twenty-two, wow, now use your words.” 

 

“You remind me of Fury more and more every day,” He hummed, narrowing his eyes at his mentor. 

 

“Never say that to me again, answer my question.” 

 

“Yes, I remember.” 

 

“Ok, so tell me why even I wouldn’t have pulled the same stunt?” Tony raised a brow, narrowing his eyes right back at him. 

 

“I didn’t think it would end up-” 

 

“That’s right, you didn’t think. So now that I’ve bailed you out, what’re you going to do?” 

 

“Nothing.” 

 

“Nothing?” Tony quirked. “Oh perfect, you know exactly who this criminal is and you won’t turn her in, so noble of you, Spider-Man.” 

 

“If I run into her as Cat again, I’ll turn her in,” Peter replied mundanely. 

 

“You and I both know that’s not true.” 

 

Peter didn’t reply and thankfully, the waitress put down their plates of food in front of them. He smiled politely up at her, to which she gave a bashful one back, pouring him a glass of water. Tony thanked the waitress, giving her a twenty dollar bill as she left. 

 

“You’ve been a real ladies man lately, huh?” Tony said, his voice spiteful but amused at the same time. 

 

Peter shoved a waffle in his mouth. 

 

“Peter, you’re not a teenager anymore, this is serious shit. The police have never liked you and they certainly don’t like you anymore, one more fuck up and I don’t think I’ll be able to stop the inevitable.” 

 

Peter filled his mouth with more food. 

 

They ate in silence, Tony finishing before Peter due to the small amount he had compared to Peter. Tony sat in silence, watching. 

 

“I just- I can’t turn her in. I can’t bring myself to do it and it’s scaring me. Normally I- I mean I once sent my crushes dad to prison and yeah I felt bad but I knew it was the right thing to do but I just can’t do it this time,” Peter sighed, stabbing his fork into the waffle over and over. “I don’t understand why I’m doing this, I’m just attracted to craziness and you-” Peter clenched his jaw, looking up at Tony as his knuckles turned white around the fork. “You’re just embarrassed because I was like- your-your protegee and now that I’ve got the balls to stand up to you and-and think for myself, you don’t like who I am now.” 

 

“Yeah,” Tony hummed. “Who are you, Peter?” 

 

“I’m right here, this is me, Tony, this is who I am,” Peter sat back in the booth, rolling his back into the cheap plastic seats, gulping as he looked out the window. “You just- you always have to be controlling everything all the time and now that you don’t have control over me you don’t like it.” 

 

“That’s not even remotely true,” Tony growled, leaning over the table. “All I’ve ever wanted is the best for you, kid. For some reason, you don’t seem to want the best for yourself.” 

 

Peter scoffed and furrowed his brows, shaking his head and running a tongue over his teeth. “I’m trying my best. I took the money she shoved in my suit because I needed it. I can’t hold down a steady job for obvious reasons and it’s not like I get paid for said reason. I’ve borrowed hundreds of dollars from Harry, May, Ned and hell, even my ex-girlfriend because I can’t afford rent-” 

 

“You can live in the tower-” 

 

“I don’t want to live in the tower,” Peter snapped. “I want to maintain a sense of fucking normality in my life.” 

 

“Because screwing a girl on the FBI’s most-wanted list is normal.” 

 

“I didn’t fucking know when it started, Tony,” Peter gestured towards him. “It’s just- you’re a fucking billionaire and you throw around all this money like it’s nothing, you just don’t- you don’t know what it’s like to be broke and you don’t even try to know or care. I’m not saying I want you to live on the streets or whatever I’m just saying that you don’t realise that people do, you know?” 

 

“I can give you money, you want a real job at Stark Industries? Done, Pepper will get it sorted. You have issues with asking for help, you always have because you’ve got that guilt, hero complex going on that means you take everything as a personal mission and if you ask anyone for help, you think you’re admitting  weakness and don’t want to burden anyone.” 

 

Peter ran a hand through his hair, leaning his elbow on the table. He let out a frustrated sigh, running his hand down his face before resting his chin in his palm. “I’m-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get upset, that was- immature of me.” 

 

“It’s ok, it sounded like it’s been on your chest for a while,” Tony replied, watching as Peter looked down at the table. “Peter, you’re my kid, biology be damned. You’re my kid and I  _ want _ to help you but I can’t do that unless you want me too. Do you want me too?” 

 

Peter peered up at Tony, chewing on the inside of his cheek and nodding. “Can we go now?” 

 

Tony nodded, sorting out the payment for the meals as Peter rubbed his throat, sniffing and squeezing his eyes shut. The older man stood up from his seat, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, squeezing slightly. 

 

Peter stood up, Tony’s hand never leaving his shoulder even as it reached an awkward position due to the height difference. It was an interesting sight, the older yet smaller man moving his hand to the back of a younger, taller boy. Even so, Tony still exerted an aura of paternal authority over the younger boy. 

 

Tony opened the door for Peter, letting him in before getting back into the driver’s seat. He started the car and started to drive into Queens before Peter gulped before piping up; “Can you- can you take me to the Upper West Side?” 

 

“Who do you know on the Upper West Side?” Tony asked with furrowed brows before seeming to remember the frequent location he noticed Peter had been visiting recently. He sighed, giving Peter a side glance before starting to drive there. “Peter-” 

 

“I need to talk to her, break things off,” He informed Tony, stopping things before it got to any sort of boiling point again. 

 

“Ok,” Tony replied shortly before noticing Peter’s dubious look. “Peter, I believe you.” 

 

Peter nodded, fiddling with the car radio to fill the silence before looking at his phone for the first time in a while. Texts from almost everyone wondering about his prison sentence, apparently Flash had somehow found out and was telling everyone they knew Peter had been arrested for public indecency. He sighed, thinking that at the ripe age of twenty-two he’d be less of a dick. 

 

The first text he cared to respond to was from ten minutes ago; _ ‘im ready when you are, spider.’  _

 

Tony got a phone call half-way through the drive, turning the music down and talking into his glasses. Peter could tell from his tone of voice it was Pepper because while he was talking business, he was gentle, almost submissive. From dating MJ, Peter could understand that. 

 

He eventually pulled up right outside Felicia’s apartment, turning to Peter and slapping a hand on his shoulder again. “I trust you, Pete,” Giving him a tight-lipped smile before mumbling; “More than I ever trusted Steve anyway.” 

 

“How’d you know where- nevermind,” Peter shook his head but gave Tony a smile in return. “Tony, I- you’re very important to me and I don’t know what I’d do without you. I-I guess, no, I know I see you as a father figure and I’m sorry.”

 

“I love you, kid. Now get out and use protection, Morgan is enough child for now,” He slapped Peter’s shoulder before leaning over and opening the door for him, all but pushing him out of the car. 

 

Peter spluttered, his neck and cheeks turning red at the comment as he got out of the car and watched Tony speed away. Clearing his throat, he rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at her apartment building and up at her bedroom window, where she was staring down at him with a wide smile. 

 

He made his way up to her floor and before he could even knock on the door it was ripped open, Felicia leaning her head on the wood. Her bottom lip was pulled in between her teeth as she looked up at him, eyes sparkling as she greeted him “Hey, Spider.” 

  
  


“Is Gwen here?” He whispered, stepping closer and watching her hand as it toyed with the hem of his shirt. 

 

“No,” She laughed. “She’s at her daddy’s.” 

 

“Good because that would be-” 

 

“Hm, yeah it would be,” Felicia tugged him into the apartment and shut the door as she wound her arms around his waist. 

 

“Fee-” He began as she rose up onto the balls of her feet, breathing him in closer to her. “We have to-” 

 

“Yeah, yeah we do,” She nodded as their lips brushed. 

 

Peter said nothing else as she drew him in before kissing him. She could taste the syrup still on his tongue and it only made her want to dive in deeper. His hands finally settled on her face as he pulled it closer, sighing into her mouth. 

 

“You know,” Peter mused, pulling away from her. “You in that suit drives me crazy.” 

 

“I can say the same about you,” She smiled, running her hands down to cup his ass. “Tony knew what he was doing when he made it skin tight.” 

 

“Well, it’s really because it's aerodynamic but sure,” Peter shrugged, peppering kisses along her jaw. 

 

“Shut up, you dork,” She scrunched up her nose and called him the name with such rasp in her voice, Peter decided that only she could call him a dork from now on. 

 

He smiled, pulling her hips into his own and starting to back them up, trying to remember where Felicia’s room was but only realising he’d forgotten when her back hit the window overlooking the city. Looking up from her neck and at the street below, he smirked, pulling her shirt over her head and spinning her around. 

 

Felicia’s back arched as her bare chest hit the cold glass, a gasp escaping her mouth as she looked back at him. Peter pushed all her hair out of her face, pulling it back into a ponytail and tugging on it. The small whimper the action elicited made him smile, his fingers digging further into her locks as his other hand dug into her waist. 

 

“You like this, huh? Me treating you like the whore you are while the whole of New York watches?” 

 

She didn’t say anything in response, just threw her hips back into him and moaned when he pulled harder on her ponytail, causing her neck to curve backwards and back arch further. Felicia whined when he pulled his shirt off, having to release his grip on her waist and hair, letting it tumble onto her shoulders. 

 

Her fingers tweaked one of her nipples as she waited, the sound of his belt thudding on the floor as it dropped and she pulled away from the glass. Before she could make a single sound, her hand was ripped away and both her wrists locked in a tight hold behind her back, her chest forced up against the window again. Felicia squeaked in response, clenching her fists and jaw. 

 

“I don’t remember telling you you could touch yourself,” Peter grumbled, running his other hand up the space between her legs.  

 

“Peter,” Felicia whined, rolling herself back into his hand, which he pulled away immediately. 

 

“You gonna listen to me now?” He dipped his fingers below the waistline of her pants, tugging. “God knows you’ve never listened to me before.”

 

Peter pulled the material down, helping her step out of them and kicking them to the side. Grabbing her hair again, he pulled her up until her entire torso was pressed against the glass, her back flat against his chest. 

 

He leaned down to the crook of her neck, planting a gentle kiss on her skin that drove her crazy from the contrast. His breath made goosebumps rise on her skin and fogged the window up as he pressed kisses up her neck and to her jaw. 

 

Grabbing her jaw, he turned her face towards him, squishing her cheeks as he kissed her. Felicia kissed back eagerly, crude sounds amplified by the awkward angle. He pulled her away from the glass, squeezing her breast roughly, continuing the job she’d started. 

 

When he trailed the hand down her stomach to the heat between her spread legs, she whined again, pulling out of the kiss and looking at him with pleading eyes. “Peter, please. Please, please, please.” 

 

The man smiled, his curls getting caught in both their eyelashes as he let go of her jaw. Tenderly, he rubbed circles into her shoulder and her clit, looking between her and the city. 

 

“You look so pretty for me, for New York,” He hummed, running a hand through her hair. “So used to stealing from the city, must be weird to be giving back for once, right?” 

 

Felicia couldn’t do much but press back into his hand and mewl under the touch, rolling her head back onto his shoulder and wrap an arm around his neck, tugging on his hair at the back. Peter growled slightly in her ear, giving her hair a sharp tug. “Right?” 

 

“Y-yes,” She choked. “Yes, Peter, Sp-Spider.” 

 

“That’s what I thought,” Peter replied, pushing two fingers into her and holding her up even as her knees buckled slightly. 

 

He pumped the fingers hastily, crooking them slightly. Felicia could feel his eyes burning into the side of her face as she leaned into him, mouth wide open. Her legs started to shake and he stopped, pulling his fingers out and placing them inside her open mouth. 

 

Felicia immediately started swirling her tongue around the digits but he hooked them over her teeth, pulling her jaw down and pushing his fingers in deeper. 

 

“Wider,” He whispered in her ear, watching as she obliged with a heaving chest.

 

Peter continued to push his fingers further into her mouth until she gagged slightly, pulling them out quickly and letting her mouth fall shut. 

 

“Good girl,” He praised, running the wet fingers down her throat. 

 

Felicia keened at the statement, beginning to turn in his arms so she could beg him for more while looking directly at his face but he stopped her.  She was starting to get frustrated, still reeling off the pleasure Peter had sent coursing through her veins but cut short. 

 

“Peter, for fuck's sake,  _ fuck _ me,” She grits her teeth and glared at him, continuing to fight to face him completely. 

 

“If I want to fuck you, I will, that’s up for me to decide, not you,” He replied, grabbing her jaw again. 

  
  


“I want to watch you while you fuck me, Peter, I want you to see my face when you make me cum-” 

 

“Who said I was making you cum?” Peter retorted, a devious smirk crossing his face as he finally let her turn to face him. “You can’t always get what you want, can you? Brat.” 

 

“You always let me get away with it,” She ran her tongue over her teeth, smiling as his eyes went dark and jaw clenched. 

 

He tugged his pants down, letting them fall to around his ankles before he pulled her up to wrap her legs around his waist. Felicia did so happily, wrapping her arms around his neck as she left love bites on his pale skin. 

 

Peter dropped her back onto the dining room table, ignoring the thwack it made and pulling her hips to the edge. He lined up with her, leaning over her and supporting his weight on the hand he’d place next to her head. Just when he started to push into her, he cursed under his breath and pulled his hips away. 

 

“Condom-” 

 

“Unless you’ve got an STD, we’re fine, I’m clean,” She cut him off, desperately grabbing at his shoulders. 

 

“So everyone you-” 

 

“Only you,” She growled, tugging at his shoulders and hooking her legs around his waist. “Now, fuck me.” 

 

He leaned into her neck, digging his teeth into her skin and biting harder when she pushed his head further down, a delicious moan escaping her lips. Finally, he pushed himself in, sighing as he sunk into her, their hips meeting sharply. 

 

Peter immediately set a brutal place, groping her breasts as she gripped the edges of the table tightly. She whined so loudly and viciously she was almost sobbing, her head rolled back into the table and her eyes scrunched up tightly. 

 

One of her hands slaps against his bicep, her nails biting his skin. Then suddenly he’s kissing her, it’s chaotic and vibrant, all clashing teeth and clumsy lips. A pit is beginning to build steadily in Felicia’s stomach, her toes curling and her hand grasping at his curls as she tries her best to kiss him. 

 

Then all at once, it stops. Peter’s lips were stripped from hers, his body no longer looming over her own, worst of all, he’s no longer inside her. Her eyes snap open and she heaves herself onto her elbows, brows furrowed as she stares at his chest that’s heaving as heavily as hers. 

 

Felicia feels empty, too empty for her taste. He’s looking down at her like he’s upset, not just mad, Peter is genuinely upset. He’s chewing on the inside of his cheek as he tugs his pants back up, doing up the belt and Felicia’s jaw is clenched so tight it was on the verge of snapping. 

 

“What the fuck?” Felicia spat, sitting up completely before sliding off the table, her weak knees buckling from the weight.  

 

Peter stared down at her, beads of sweat rolling down his temple as he shrugged. “You didn’t deserve it.” 

 

“Didn’t deserve it,” She scoffed. “What kind of bullshit is that?” 

 

“I mean, you didn’t deserve it, you’re too selfish.” 

 

“I just let you fuck me against a window where anyone could’ve been watching, how is that-” 

 

“You  _ know _ that’s not what I meant,” Peter cut her off, stepping away from her and pulling his shirt back on. “This is the last time I’m telling you to stop or Felicia I-I honestly don’t know what I’ll do.” 

 

“You could make me come for one and I’ll make you come too,” She nodded towards the bulge in his pants. “I know you want me to.” 

 

“This is exactly what I hate. I don’t know why you are the way you are, I don’t know what fucked up your decision-making process so much but I tried to help, I got arrested for it and I’m done. You win, Felicia. Next time I see you out, I swear to God, I swear, I’ll throw you in jail,” Peter laughed bitterly. “You did it to me, I did it to Gwen and I’ll do it again.”  

 

A deep frown was etched into Felicia’s face as she wrapped her arms around her chest, covering herself up and looking away from Peter. She shuffled over to where her shirt had been tossed to the floor and pulled it on, her back facing him. 

 

“Well, if that’s how you feel,” She shrugged, folding her arms over her chest again, only quickly glancing up to make eye contact with him before looking out the window. 

 

“It is how I feel,” Peter replied, beginning to leave her apartment. “Have a nice life, I hope you’re happy with all the choices you made.” 

 

He made his way out of the building, walking down the street to find the closest alleyway, which wasn’t all that close considering the neighbourhood he was currently in. He waited a few minutes, for his heart rate and a couple of  _ other _ things to go down before hitting the button on his wrist. The Iron Spider suit was handy and yet another thing he had to thank Tony for. 

 

Swinging to Queens felt tedious, the fact he had to drop down to stop a couple of muggings along the way didn’t help. Peter was exhausted, in every aspect. He felt ready for a breakdown and it was moments away from happening, seconds when one of the thugs he was fighting called him Spider-Bitch. The name was unoriginal, boring and lacked any kind of creativity. All those elements plus the fact it was Spider- _ Man _ , as he’d been correcting for years, just about caused him to break down into tears. 

 

Peter managed to hold it all in until he stepped foot into May’s apartment. She rushed to the doorway with a concerned look at the sound of his shakey breathes and small sniffles, not hesitating to wrap her small arms around his larger frame. 

 

He hugged back, leaning his head into her neck and letting all the day's emotions out in one big wave. May said nothing, just held him as he cried before ushering him into the shower when he’d calmed down. 

 

By the time he’d finished showering, Thai food had been delivered and she was waiting on the couch, a blanket covering her lap and the TV remote in hand. She gave him a warm smile as he settled in beside her, lifting the blanket for him to settle under. 

 

A gentle hand ran through his damp hair and a kiss was pressed to his head, Peter clenched his jaw and sighed. 

 

“You feel like telling me why you came crashing through the door sobbing and almost gave me a heart attack?” May hummed, looking down at the boy. 

“You know- you know that girl that, well, you know-” Peter sighed and May waited patiently. “Remember when Tony said something about that phone call I had with him after I got shot?” His cheeks tinted red as his Aunt hummed amusedly. “You also know how I was supposed to be turning in that Black Cat person and I didn’t do so  _ I _ was thrown in jail instead?” 

 

“Let me guess, they’re the same person?” May replied, feigning shock when Peter nodded. “No way! That’s crazy!” 

 

“Shut up,” Peter laughed slightly. “How’d you even know?” 

 

“I know you,” She shrugged. “Anway, tell me about this girl who’s got you so wound up.” 

 

“She just- I trust her but I don’t at the same time, I know her but I don’t know her, I like her but I don’t like her. She drives me insane and I don’t know why I can’t get over her, there’s something in me that tells me she’s a good person but I don’t understand why she keeps making the same mistakes and going back to this life when she knows what's at stake, she could literally get herself killed,” He sighed, stopping to eat the food May had given him. 

 

“I’m not condoning her actions,” May began after a moment of silence. “But you know how hard it is to give up any kind of lifestyle. It’s not just a hobby, it’s a lifestyle. You keep going out as Spider-Man every night no matter what effect it has on your personal life or mental and physical health. When’s the last time you actually spent time with Ned, Harry or MJ?” She took Peter’s silence as a confirmation of her assumption and ran a hand through his hair. “Ben was a police officer and I worried every single day that he wasn’t going to come home and now I worry about you for the same reason but it’s okay because I love you, Peter. Whether I like it or not, you’re going to be Spider-Man but I suck it up and deal with it because I love you, so you need to make a choice.” 

 

“Tony doesn’t want me to be involved with her anymore and I get it, I know he’s right,” Peter grumbled. 

 

“You and Tony are going through  _ that _ phase, huh?” May smiled, humour tinting her voice. Peter furrowed his brows and looked up at her. “When you were twelve you started to get real shitty with Ben and I. Specifically Ben, but you argued with us all the time, thought we had it out for you or something, every kid goes through something like that don’t worry. You met Tony later on in life so you’re just going through it now, it’s fine. It’s a very father and son moment and I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner.” 

 

“Sorry,” Peter blushed, putting down the empty plate. 

 

She didn’t say anything, only smiled and ruffled his hair before standing up and taking the dishes to the kitchen. Peter tuned in to the clattering of the dishes, focusing on those rather than everything that was running through his mind. 

 

His eyes fluttered shut, the exhaustion of the past few weeks finally taking over his body. The clattering soon became faded background noise, a lullaby for him to fall asleep too. He leaned his head onto the arm of the couch, tugging the blanket up to his chin. 

 

The next morning he woke up to the scent of coffee and bagels wafting through the air, a proper pillow had been placed under his head and another blanket draped over him. He shrugged them off, padding into the kitchen while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. 

 

May smiled up at him, “Morning, love bug.” 

 

“Morning, May,” He smiled, leaning down to kiss her cheek before swooping up a mug of coffee and downing half the cup in split seconds. 

 

She pushed a plate of bagels towards him, “I have to go to work and you have to go back to school.” Peter blushed slightly at the implication that he hadn’t been going lately; which wasn’t exactly false. May run a hand down his arm before smiling hopefully at him. “And you know, you could always move back here.” 

 

“May-” He sighed. 

 

“I know, I know, I’m kidding,” She smiled. “But also I’m not kidding.” 

 

“I know,” Peter smiled back as he watched her gather all her things and head for the door. “I love you, have a good day.” 

 

“You too, Peter, and don’t forget to talk to her.” 

 

He blushed again, biting into the bagel as May left the apartment, keys jangling behind her. The thought of going back to his classes was slightly daunting, especially so when he knew his whole year would’ve heard of his arrest. 

 

Still, he plucked up his courage and grabbed his things. Despite not having any of his books, he knew the select friends he had in each of his classes would share with him; perhaps not MJ. 

 

Peter was right, the stares he got when he walked through the campus weren’t exactly pleasant. While no one was looking at him maliciously, Peter preferred to stay in the periphery of people’s vision. Being the centre of attention wasn’t his forte. 

 

A couple of people had come up to him, much to his discomfort, to ask what he’d done. He would reply by saying it wasn’t a big deal, that people had blown up rumours. Which wasn’t exactly a lie. By midday, he was exhausted and dreading the class he was about to walk into, the class with both Felicia and Gwen, although Felicia’s presence was not guaranteed. 

 

Gwen was sitting in her usual spot, the empty place next to her where Peter would usually sit. A small internal debate ended with the verdict of still sitting next to her, a bubble of discomfort immediately forming. 

 

She smiled politely, looking down at her book and scribbling on the corner before taking a deep breath and looking up at him, “I don’t know what happened but Felicia is- uncharacteristically emotional. As in, she’s displaying them.” 

 

Peter chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. 

 

“I don’t like her but it’s worrying me. She locked herself in her room all day and only came out at night to grab her cat’s food and in that short span of time, managed to throw everything on the island to the floor, call me a cunt and then slammed her door so hard one of the hinges came off.” 

 

Peter’s eyes widened and he chewed on his bottom lip, tapping his fingers on the table. “Well, I- uh- I told her to stop or I really would throw her in jail which also implied that I wouldn’t you know-  _ see _ her anymore.” 

 

“She’s probably more upset about the fact that you don’t want to see her anymore rather than being thrown in jail,” Gwen shrugged. “I never um, she was always kind of possessive over everything but with you, it’s a whole other level. It’s not just possessive it’s also like, protective, I guess. I’ve never seen her actually care about someone before, so…” Her voice trailed into silence, pushing her hair behind her ear. 

 

“I really am sorry about getting you dragged into this,” Peter sighed. “I didn’t even know she- you know- when we started whatever we had. I can’t explain how bad I feel, really.” 

 

“It’s okay, Peter,” She smiled at him before shrugging. “Things happen.” 

 

He sighed sadly, opening his mouth to reply but the professor cut him off, leaving the words stuck in his throat rather than the empty air. She gave him a reassuring look, going back to her book and taking notes. 

 

The class ended with Peter still gripping his pencil and no marks made on his paper. Gwen shut her book, standing up and looking down at him. “Whatever you were going to say, it’s because you love her and I suggest you tell her because I’ve had one night of human Felicia and I hate it, please fix it.” 

 

Peter gulped, nodding gently as she walked away, packing up only as the next class began to filter into the room. He got more stares as he left, people whispering when he went past and man, he really wished he didn’t have enhanced hearing right now. Apparently, he’d been caught at a highschool party selling laced ecstasy to minors only for his secret sugar daddy to bail him out. 

 

He’s not sure how that happened, considering everyone knew when Peter went to a party all he did was stand on the wall and watch. Well, when he thought about it he supposed he did give off creepy vibes when he did so. Still, he was almost insulted people would actually believe something like that. 

 

The last class of his day was torture, it felt like he was enduring a full day of high school all over again or attending a compulsory Avengers briefing for three hours. No one deserves to feel like that. 

 

Peter was out of the seat before the professor even began to dismiss them, not that anyone cared, people came and left all the time in these lectures. He flagged down a taxi and went straight to Felicia’s apartment. 

 

His leg jumped up and down the whole time, barely able to focus on his Instagram feed, not that it ever particularly interested him. He settled on looking out the window, counting the street numbers as they drove past and making awkward conversation with the driver when he wasn’t yelling at another driver. 

 

Peter slammed thirty dollars down on the centre console and clambered out of the car, muttering a quick thanks to which he got a grunt in response. He tried his best not to run into Felicia’s apartment building, nodding at the person in the lobby before jamming his finger into the elevator buttons. 

 

His foot tapped impatiently as he stood in the elevator, smiling politely at the two women in the small box with him. They both glared at his foot dramatically, causing him to blush, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to stop it if he tried. 

 

Just as he reached her door, bouncing on his heels as he gave himself a small pep talk and lifted his fist up to knock. His phone pinged in his back pocket and thankful for the distraction, he fished it out. 

 

Peter’s heart dropped into his stomach, his jittering immediately stopped as he looked at the voice message from Felicia. Taking a deep breath he hesitated before pressing play, her sultry voice ran through his headphones, a gentle sigh prefacing her words. 

 

_ “Hey, Spider. I’m not there, I’m getting ready for something big that I’ve been planning for a while. I thought about going straight, I really did but you know me and that’s not me. I’m sorry but I have to do this and after this, you won’t have to worry about me anymore. This is best for both of us. Bye, Peter, I’ll miss you. We were good together weren’t we?”  _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> er i disappeared again for a month, sorry? this chapter is 50% longer than the average length of my other ones to say sorry. also, if you're into petermj (MCU MJ, sorry?) which idk how many of you actually are, I've written a new fic and i would really appreciate you checking it out hehe thanks. I kind of abandoned this fic for that one, sorry again. anyway hope you enjoyed it's all reaching a climax isn't it?

**Author's Note:**

> Felicia is hot and that's about it 
> 
> twitter: @ rueshewitt


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